|
|
 |
|
|
WHAT´S NEW ? |
|
|
|
|
|
| 
| | 2002 Primum Familiae Vini Vintage Reports,
| | “What we have in the PFV is the world’s ultimate wine appellation. After exchanging our first impressions of the 2002 harvest in our respective regions, we present the following summary which is a fascinating snapshot of the different challenges that our winemakers have had to face, and a first indication of what wine lovers can expect from this unconventional year”.
Rupert Symington
The weather is the second most important factor in wine making. Climate changes throughout the year bear strong influence on the quality of a wine. 2002 has been particularly affected by climactic variations and wine growers around the globe have had to adapt. Below is a global overview of the Primum Familiae Vini Members’ 2002 vintage reports for each of their regions:
France
Château Mouton Rothschild – Pauillac (Bordeaux)
From the start of the vegetation cycle, the climatic conditions in 2002 were generally typical of a hot and dry – or even drought – year, with 40% less rainfall and mean temperatures more than 1°C higher than the average over the last 50 years. After a period of grey, showery weather, especially in August, an exceptional Indian summer from 27 August to 9 October brought light and sunshine that enabled the crop to mature in outstanding conditions. Only one storm broke during this time, on 19 September. The result was a small crop, but potentially of very good quality for Cabernet Sauvignon, easily the most extensively planted variety at Mouton. The first run-offs on 28 October gave deeply coloured wines with high levels of natural alcohol and an impressive tannic structure. With this balance, we may be confident of a very fine vintage with considerable ageing potential.
Pol Roger – Epernay (Champagne)
After a mild, dry winter, the weather during May was very dry, allowing for a perfect flowering. The summer proved to be mainly dry and fairly warm, and by the beginning of September the grapes had reached a healthy and mature stage. For the earliest crus the harvest began on 16th September and on 26th September for the later vines. The main peculiarity about this harvest has been the length and slowness of it - more than three full weeks of picking is virtually a record. The low yield limit (12,000 kg/ha) set by the CIVC made the picking relatively difficult and time-consuming. In terms of the quality of wine, the grapes benefited from a very good maturation period and the baumés came in at between 10-11º. The grapes had average acidity and a very clean taste due to their perfect health. At this early stage we can confidently say that it will be a declared vintage year.
Joseph Drouhin – Beaune (Burgundy)
After a cold winter the growing season got off to a slow start, but with a
warm May, the vines developed quickly. Sudden weather changes during
flowering resulted in some 'coulure'. The summer months were extremely dry
and the grapes matured well with some 'millerandage'. The scattered showers
in September did not bring any benefits to the vines. Some colder windy
weather helped concentration and the grapes began to mature quickly, on the
whole very healthy . Picking began on September 16th in Côte de Beaune and
on September 23rd in Chablis. In Chablis, the grapes had thick skins, lots
of sugar and high acidity, but little juice.
The reds from Côte d'Or have a more intense colour than 2001 (but less than
'99), beautiful structure and good fruitiness . Everything seems to point
to a good, to very good vintage in Burgundy, and potentially exceptional in
Chablis.
Paul Jaboulet Ainé – Tain l’Hermitage (Rhone Valley)
A poor flowering produced a crop that was 30-40% down on previous years. After a poor summer, the yield was further reduced deliberately by the decision to carry out a green harvest to improve quality and aerate the bunches. Harvest began on 11th September in Saint Peray and fortunately there was no rain right up until the Cornas finished on October 2nd, with a gamble on extra ripening time in the Domaine de St Pierre resulting in excellent maturity. It is important to note that the parcels that were picked last produced grapes of exceptional quality for this year. Careful selection was required throughout the harvest as some parcels showed signs of rot, even though this resulted in even smaller yields. Despite the small quantities produced, on the whole the quality is very good, with some wines having surprisingly high colour and a level of acidity that will allow the wines to maintain a nice freshness. In summary 2002 is a year with a small quantity and better than average quality, a satisfying result considering the bad weather of July and August.
Hugel & fils – Riquewihr (Alsace)
In Alsace, the year 2002 began with an extremely cold January, and the ground was frozen solid for one whole month. Spring was alternately sunny and rainy with no spring frost.
Flowering took place in mid-June, very quickly and very evenly, with neither coulure problems, nor even any millerandage. As a large harvest looked likely, in early July we began an unprecedented severe green harvest program which continued until mid-September. Alsace escaped the bad summer weather which affected S. Germany, and by mid-September we were expecting an abundant crop of good quality. Harvest began on 30 September with good weather conditions but following a few days of gloomy weather causing a deterioration in the sanitary state of some grapes. Overall, ripeness levels were excellent and beaumés range from 11.4% for Pinot Noir to 13.4% for Gewurztraminer. A good surprise came at the very end of our harvest. In the last days of October we had some strong southerly winds that allowed us to harvest our best Gewurztraminer vineyards at Vendange Tardive levels (over 16% potential) and even a fair quantity of Sélection de Grains nobles at 24% potential.
Germany
Egon Muller Scharzhof –Saar
A good but early flowering followed by favourable summer weather led to very nice levels of ripeness by the end of September. October was much wetter and harvesting began on the 21st and was finished on November 7th. Although the average quality level is very high the grapes never dried up enough to allow us to pick Auslese and Beerenauslese. The overall ripeness and the aromatic intensity are the best since 1999 and the acidity seems to be well balanced.
Italy
Antinori – Firenze (Tuscany)
The beginning of Spring was characterized by rain falls and slightly above average seasonal temperatures which favored an early budding of the different varieties. The following weather conditions determined excellent flowering and setting, resulting in a full-balanced production. The excessive rains which characterized most of the Summer, from mid July onwards, created some difficulties in the ripening of the grapes and their healthiness. Weather conditions were not stable during the last three weeks of harvest: favorable at the beginning (allowing the non-picked grapes to reach maturity) and characterized by rainfalls at the end. The 2002 harvest has been one of the most difficult of past years. In some areas we had excellent quality-wise production while in other areas results were not satisfying mainly due to the unfavorable climate conditions.
Spain
Torres – Spain, Vilafranca del Penedes (Catalunya)
Summer 2002 was characterised by frequent rains in August in the region of the Penedès and el Garraf. It also rained on some days at the beginning of September with the result that the early maturing varieties (Macabeo, Chardonnay and Tempranillo) were affected by Botrytis. Selection had to be maximised (with losses of 25–30%) and maturity did not reach the usual limits. In other Catalan vine-growing regions, however, particularly in the south of Catalonia, the rains were almost nonexistent. Thus the harvests in Conca, Terra Alta, Falset and Montsant are sure to achieve an excellent qualification. The weather in the Penedès, and in general, was splendid from 7th September on, and in the following two weeks maturation took place in very good conditions. In fact the August rains had had very little effect due to a notable delay in maturity due to the summer’s low temperatures. Harvesting finished very late, on 25th October, although very good results have been achieved, thus abating many of the concerns that were raised at the start of this year’s campaign.
Vega Sicilia – Valbuena de Duero (Castilla y Leon)
The winter was very cold, with frosts for 100 days in a row between December and April. Rainfall was 25% less than usual, causing late budding. Flowering took place at the beginning of June when winds caused a significant loss of crop size. Summer was neither too dry nor too hot, with rain in June, July and at the end of August, resulting in slow grape maturation. From the last week of August we began to remove all bunches which were not in perfect condition. At the end of September and the beginning of October there were intermittent rain showers and early morning fog, and a strain of botrytis was detected in some vineyards particularly those nearest the Duero river. Harvest began on October 5th and ended October 14th, interrupted twice by heavy rains. We expect a 25% lower than normal harvest, but slightly above 2001. Production has oscillated between 650 gr/vine and 1.3 kg per vine. Sugar readings were between 13.5 and 14.5 and there was high acidity due to the slow maturation. The vintage was on average moderately good in quantity and very good in quality.
Portugal
The Symington Family Port Companies – Vila Nova de Gaia (Oporto and Douro)
After a dry winter, the fruit set took place somewhat late but under good conditions giving a fairly average crop yield in the best areas of the Douro. An unusually dry summer followed, causing a serious drought, although the vines showed no signs of hydric stress, and some useful rain fell in late August. Vintaging began in the week of September 7th under good conditions, but was interrupted by a week of heavy rains causing sugar graduations to drop somewhat. A further week of good weather helped things to stabilise, but from the 28th rain fell fairly continuously and rot began to appear on some grapes. Although too early to predict accurately, it seems that some good wines were made early on in the Vintage although those made later are perhaps only of medium standard.
The United States
Robert Mondavi – Napa Valley (California)
After a cool start to the growing season, September’s heat and low humidity caused sugars to go up rapidly, yet flavor and maturation lagged behind. It was nerve racking to wait for full flavor maturity, but worth it in the resulting wine quality. The 2002 Vintage has been unusual and challenging, requiring a lot of creativity from our vineyard and winemaking teams. The resulting wines are gorgeous. Rich, highly extracted flavors, ripe tannins, extremely deep colour. However, it was a year that tested everyone’s patience. The harvest has not been an easy one for either viticulturists or winemakers in Napa Valley. While many of the world’s winegrowing regions have been dealing with devastating onslaughts of rain or hail, the Napa Valley has had sunny, dry weather… but too much of it. There will be some great wines in 2002, with incredible concentration.
|
Back |
|
|
