Vintage 2015

Some of the more unusual aspects of this year:

  • Firstly, high cumulative rainfall (910 mm). Soil water reserves were thus at their highest level during budburst.
    As the root system is already well established, vines were able to draw from these reserves, therefore limiting water stress during the hottest months.

  • A hot, dry period ensued, from May to mid-August, though nighttimes were cool. July was a particularly hot month with extreme temperatures of 38.1°C on July 20.
    Due to this intense heat, vine development started to slow down.

  • Two major storms then followed (on August 13 and 23), allowing ripening to restart and ultimately come to a close.

As phenolic ripeness occurred early on, harvesting also began early, on August 28, in glorious sunshine.

Picking got off to a tranquil start but rapidly became stressful and nerve-racking due to the many flash floods rising in the Cevennes mountains that were forecast but fortunately spared us.

Then, an Indian summer kicked in and lasted through to the end of harvesting, allowing us to finish picking at the beginning of October in excellent conditions.  

In a nutshell, harvesting was intense with some beautiful sunny days. It was exhausting but ultimately produced results that fully live up to our expectations, with highly expressive Syrah and rich, concentrated Grenache.

 

 

Â