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2004 Primum Familiae Vini Vintage Reports,

France

Château Mouton Rothschild – Pauillac (Bordeaux)
Temperatures in 2004 were slightly higher than the average, with significantly lower than average rainfall: the total at end-September amounted to 404 mm, barely more than in 2003 (393 mm), generally reckoned to be a very dry year.
The phenological stages occurred within the average dates for Cabernet Sauvignon, and a few days late for Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Flowering occurred in early June, taking place rapidly and evenly for all varieties.
After an extremely dry June and July, higher than average rainfall in August gave the vines sufficient water, while fine, dry weather in September encouraged the grapes' natural richness in sugar and polyphenols. With sunny conditions persisting into October, picking was delayed so as to ensure optimum maturity. The harvest, begun on 29 September, was completed on 15 October.
The wines are highly promising, even at this stage, showing remarkable aromatic intensity and astonishing density.

Pol Roger – Epernay (Champagne)
The main worries attendant on this year’s vintage derived from one of the wettest summers on record.
Luckily the quality of the 2004 harvest has been turned around by good weather and practically no rain in September.
For the earliest “crus” the picking began on September 25th and October 1st for the later vines. From a quality point of view the grapes benefited from good maturation period and the potential degree of alcohol came in at between 9.5° - 10° occasionally more. The grapes had an average acidity , hallmark of freshness and a very clean taste due to their perfect health one can speak of a happy balance.
All the indications are that this highly welcome crop should permit the production of generous, attractive vintage “cuvees” of excellent quality.
There are great hopes at Pol Roger that Spring 2005 will fulfil the promise of initial feelings and that in years to come, the 2004 vintage will be much sought after by lovers of wine the world over.

Joseph Drouhin – Beaune (Burgundy)
After a gloomy month of August and damages by hail, all growers were pessimistic. September brought back optimism. Due to ideal climatic conditions (bright days, warm and windy weather), the vines developed favourably and the grapes attained maturity. Weather conditions were very good till the harvest. The crop was abundant except where the vineyards had been hit by hail. Maturity was good, even very good, due to the sunshine, which had been prevailing over the last weeks.
After an easy fermentation, the whites show a good balance and great complexity. The reds are showing good colour, good structure but, as usual, it is too early to assess the quality and style of these wines.

Paul Jaboulet Ainé – Tain l’Hermitage (Rhone Valley)
Summer was very hot with high temperatures, higher than average, more that 26°C in June and 36°C at the end of July. The difference with 2003 is that the weather was hot but not scorching as it was last year. The fresh nights allowed the vines to be safe from the critical conditions of hydrous stress of last year.
The beginning of August looked like the one of 2003, with important heats, whereas the last two weeks were marked by the rain, which came up in time to feed the vines that had suffered, with 100mm of water.
We started the harvest on September 14th 2004 with a dry weather and an appropriate heat. Such a nice weather allowed us to harvest following the vines maturity and to stop harvesting whenever needed to wait for complete maturities. The only period of dampness was in the afternoon of September 14th when it rained for an hour; then the sun and the wind took over the rain.
The grapes are very sound, showing high degrees and an acidity more than satisfying. The yields are different according to the appellations; we had a normal harvest in Hermitage, whereas the one in red Crozes Hermitage was smaller (Average of 38HL).
The 2004 vintage is generous in terms of degrees, but certainly gives less warm sensations than the 2003 vintage. 2004 shows a very good acidity that intensifies aromas of red fruits. The colour is steady and the tannins are delicate and much present.
The rains of August, together with the sun and the wind coming from the North, allowed gathering a nice crop. The harvest ended on October 5th 2004 with Cornas 'Domaine de St Pierre', just before the rain coming back on October 6th !

Hugel & fils – Riquewihr (Alsace)
Each successive year is unique. While the 2003 vintage was exceptionally early but much lower in volume than average, 2004 appears to be a more classic vintage with, from the outset, remarkably sound grapes, good acidity levels and a very good sized, perfectly ripe crop.
Following a fairly poor summer, the excellent weather during the month of September greatly and positively influenced the outcome of the 2004 vintage, but by the end of October the weather began to deteriorate, forcing us to speed up the pace of picking before damage could occur.
This harvest has lasted exactly one month. The last grapes were picked on November. The right conditions for Vendange Tardive were present at last at the very end of our picking season. Some Gewurztraminer with more than 16° and Riesling with 14,9° potential were harvested in the very first days of November in the best plots of our estate. No SGN was managed to be harvested.

Germany

Egon Muller Scharzhof –Saar
After a mild winter and a warm spring, the summer of 2004 was quite variable. June and July were rather cool and flowering only finished around the end of June. Intermittent rain caused high pressure of fungus diseases and the humid conditions forced us to spray 5 to 6 times, depending on plot, rootstock and trellising system.
October was warm and dry and must weights soared. We only started harvesting on the 25th because due to the late ripening the acidity levels remained quite high. At first we brought home grapes that had very high must weights but also high acidity. There was very little Botrytis but what there was, was of good quality and we were able to select a small quantity of Trockenbeerenauslese. November was rainy and unusually warm. While the total quantity of the rain was not enough to dilute the grapes, it created ideal conditions for the development of Botrytis.
Towards the end of the harvest the acidity levels were down and although it was again possible with extremely careful selection to harvest small quantities of “nobly rotten” berries, their quality was well below that of the first week’s selections. We finished the harvest on the 16th November.
Because the harvest was so late and because the wines are fermenting very slowly, it is difficult to comment on the quality of the wines at this stage. Conceivably, more than in other vintages the quality will be in the wines blended from the high acidity barrels harvested in October and the highly aromatic but low acidity barrels that we harvested towards the end.

Italy

Antinori – Firenze (Tuscany)
Autumn 2003 was very rainy, so the underground soil strata were replenished with water after the extreme summer drought. The winter was cold and wet and it snowed quite heavily on several occasions.
The weather trends caused a delay in the spring regrowth of vegetation and budbreak was 10-15 days later than usual even in the more precocious varieties.
The period leading up to flowering and fruit-set was very rainy and much cooler than the previous 3 or 4 years, so the growth of vegetation was very good despite the fact that the initial delay continued until veraison and ripening. The grapes are still being harvested now. Fairly intense pre-harvest selection was necessary because the vines were overloaded with grapes due to the weather.
The harvest began a couple of weeks later than usual when the grapes were healthy and of a good quality and quantity.

Sassicaia – Tenuta San Guido (Bolgheri)
The 2004 vintage has been characterized by a more mild climate than the 2003 vintage which has determined a delay of a week in the flowering and in the changing of the grape’s colour and consequently in the maturation of the grapes.
The harvest lasted for approximately five weeks instead of the usual 3,5-4 since it was stopped twice due to heavy rainfalls.
The quality of the grapes was great especially for the ones that were harvested during the first two weeks of the harvesting.
Overall we will end up with a vintage that will be qualitatively be above the average even though it will not reach the level of the 2003 vintage.

Portugal

The Symington Family Port Companies – Vila Nova de Gaia (Oporto and Douro)
The 2004 viticultural year will be remembered for its most unusual weather patterns, with a very dry spring creating near drought conditions, fortunately broken just in time by some heavy unseasonal rain in August. Despite the dry conditions, fruit set was only slightly lower than normal. The cooler August weather and some further rain in early September caused us to delay what could have been a very early starting date, and we began picking in the Upper Douro Quintas around September 20th.
The entire vintage was carried out in dry, sunny conditions with the grapes coming in in perfect condition. With temperatures high, the use of cooling equipment was essential. At this early stage the wines show excellent colour and structure. Peter Symington, celebrating his 40th Vintage, said he had never seen a vintage that could have so easily swung between near disaster and success.

Spain

Torres – Spain, Vilafranca del Penedes (Catalunya)
As October ends, the optimistic forecasts that we made on September 9 have been confirmed: overall the 2004 harvest will be excellent. In fact, because harvest began nearly 2 weeks late, it was a difficult start: rainfall in late August and early September affected the earlier varieties such as Chardonnay, Macabeo and Sauvignon Blanc.
However, from September 17 onwards the weather was simply extraordinary: clear, sunny days, with cool nights and for the next 30 days, not a single drop of rain fell in the whole of Catalonia. This was a true “dream” for the oenologists, who were able to organise and make decisions regarding the harvest using the criterion of achieving excellence.
For red wines especially, the year 2004 will be a memorable one. The richness of the wines’ colour, their well-structured, sweet tannins, and their intense varietal character are simply extraordinary.
Volume will be somewhat lower than that of a normal harvest, and prices, as a general rule, have remained at the same levels as last year.
This year, there has been a successful control of the grape quality (ripeness, phytosanitary products and gluconic) and for the first time we have started to control the colour potential in red grapes using the “Near Infrared Spectroscopy” (NIR) method.
Also for the first time, this year my daughter Mireia has been in charge of the technical management of the harvests, helped by the wise advice of Mr. Raül Bobet and Mr. Félix Sabat.

Vega Sicilia – Valbuena de Duero (Castilla y Leon)
The 2004 harvest can be considered excellent as in Ribera de Duero as in Toro.
There wasn't frost in Spring, slowly ripening, July and August were not too hot and at the end we had a dry September with very good weather caused an early harvesting, one week before foreseeing date in Vega Sicilia. It began on September 28 and ended October 8. As in quantity, despite the green pruning carried out in summer, as in quality we think it is a superb vintage.
The alcohol grade was 14,3 and the total acidity, expressed in tartaric acid, is 5,8.




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