Normally fall and winter serve us to refurbish the groundwaters. But winter is not very wet and very mild, too mild. We fear even an exit of the buds that came too early which would be mowed by the first frost. A heavy rain finally arrives, but a little too late. Indeed, the vegetation having appeared, diverts the precipitations of these phreatic water tables. The spring frosts from early April to mid-May make us fear the worst and we had partly reduced it by pruning very late. From May to June, rain and heat come together: tropical atmosphere without palm trees. The plant literally explodes. Unfortunately, the one who leads the dance is the mildew. The closing of the bunch stops it. Temperatures are rather lenient in July-August. Before the harvest, the temperature increases strongly and the cabernetsauvignon perspires and its berries reduce quickly. The vine surprises us once again with its resilience and produces a typical structural Medoc on the fruit.

A little wet winter with some very cold sessions. The rain finally arrives in January and February
Worries about the frost at the end of March and the beginning of April. Beautiful bloom. Four heat waves strike from June. Concerned, however, we note a certain stoicity of the vineyard that seems to suffer less than us.
The harvest in good conditions is early, the light rains were well come. In the cellar, no aroma of over-ripeness, fruit already.

The autumn and the winter following the harvest are too rainy and too mild. Mars surprises with abnormal high temperature. The vineyard is mistaken and already believes in the return of the fine weather
The virulent frosts of April bring it back to reality by mowing its tender leaves barely hatched. A flowering in the moisture spares the cabernet-sauvignon more than the merlot. Summer is in the norm.
The rains return during the harvest. We hold on and pull the grape varieties till maturity.

The rain begins in September and ends in December. An abnormal mildness begins in January and finishes late February. The first COVID containment occurs under bright sunlight and high temperatures.
Beginning in mid-April, numerous and heavy rains compromise the works at the vineyards. June is wet and mildew threatens (agaaaain!). A superb summer stops it but becomes too hot in late August and early September.
Our fresh sub-soils save the day to the cabernet-sauvignon. The harvest sky is grey but the rains are rare.

Winter 2019 is classic thus perfect, quite cold and not too wet. February and March are very mild but very dry, followed by an April with very dense rains.
No better with a few frost nights that heckle a few buds. A very regular rain floods June and the flower get out of it, almost. July sets records of heat. August and early September are more normalized.
Alas, it is under a threatening and sometimes yielding sky that the harvest will take place.
But once again, experience and cold-blood give birth to a very good wine, even exceptional.

It was a Hitchkockian year. After the harvest, a dry autumn settles in durably. Then since January, it falls in three months as much rain as in a year. Mechanical work is complicated, the pruning too ,of course. The vine slows down. With a very hot end of April, it explodes but the soil remains very moist.
We note slight attacks of mildew on leaf but nothing abnormal or very worrying. At the beginning of July, however, a treatment does not seem to meet the demands of this tense climate. In fact, the mildew proliferates rapidly on the bunches and causes a real havoc. It is too late. The very dry summer stops the disaster. However, the vineyard transpiration is upper than normal. The volume is decreasing again. Fortunately, the hand-sorted harvest then optically one bring a ripe and healthy harvest to the vats. The result is dazzling but we only have 30% of an average year and a rough blend compared to a classic year. Even if the Cabernet Sauvignon remains major, it leaves a little more room for the Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Which is delighting us.

Winter is mild and dry. The early spring is very hot (30° sometimes), but still no rain. An icy current carried by a wind from north hits on April 27th. The frost impacts illogically coombs but also ridges.
The rest of the year takes place rather classically with some very hot days in august among many others, more moderated.
The spared grapes follow a classic calendar. The harvests begin in the middle of september but linger little. Cabernet is more numerous on arrival and show themselves magnificent.

We did not have a winter. Too gentle and too wet. During six months, it falls more rain at the time than one year average. An unexpected and sudden short shiny space of time allows a homogenuous flowering.
The summer is hot and sometimes too hot until september. We are surprised to hope a couple of rain drop. It happens beginning of september. The plant ceases to protect itself from this exhausting heat for taking again the way to the maturation. The youngs vines are reanimated, the old ones stay hieratic in front of a such undecision.
The harvest are tardy and the beautiful weather makes them happen serenely. The cabernet sauvignon adores that: the mark of the great medocan vintages.

Immediately after the harvest, the rain is falling heavily. It stops a little bit in December, but start all over again in January. The winter is limited to a few rare cold and frosted days with abundant rains. The spring happens without specific climatic event.
June is suddenly very hot. The flowering likes that. July is canicular, the vine suffers. August gives it a respite. Its rains of the early month are perfect for the veraison. September is beautiful.
The harvest begins late. We escape to a couple of heavy storms. The merlot mature quietly. Temperatures are quite low and the nights, very cold. The cabernet sauvignon brakes. Rains relaunch them but sudden warm nights and days worry. The atmosphere is concerned but the result comforting.

The rain falls abundantly as soon as the harvest has been finished. In december, it calms down a little but begins again even stronger in january. Februar increases the load with swell, wind, storm and hail. March remains dark. May sees the beautiful weather coming.
June knows a couple of very hot days and nights. The flowering appréciates. July is cloudy and august almost wet. The 31st of august, arrives the longest ever indian summer of the decade interrupted by hailstorms and cloudbursts. The temperature becomes abnormal (30°C).
The Cabernet Sauvignon dawdles and matures. So, the harvest is late but promising.

Immediatly after the harvest, the rain is constant till mid february. Almost 600 mm fall down, and it’s good after three years of an hydric diet.
The end of the winter and the beginning of the spring will be very wet and sometimes snowy.
The vines loves the unexpected heat which lasts from mid-april to june. Then, unfortunatly, the rain comes back on the flowering.
An phenologic delay is scheduled. If july and august have been sometimes caniculars, september joins again wet days and warm nights. The harvest moves forward because tricky. A suite of shiny days and cool nights come down the atmosphere. The cabernet sauvignon eases the situation but the merlot stays on pressure.
Harvest are physical. Performing tools and self control are necessary. The yield is divided by two but made of healthy berries and the wine will be good.

Winter is very wet and spring will be even wetter. Sub-soils are rebuilding their reduced water stock of the last few years. The plant grows fast after winter and work is done very quickly. Then it dallies during April, May and June. There is a delay, July, in turn, is wet and it may trigger cryptogamic diseases, but fortunately the delay has shortened. August is beautiful and warm and it regulates the situation. A nice dry weather carries on until September. At last, the homogeneity of the wine grape takes place. But the phenological time-lag is there and we must now be patient, worried as we become due to a series of warm nights and wet days. All risk is taken to ensure optimum maturity. Rot is spared and we end up quite serene on the whole.

Winter and the beginning of the spring are rainy. May and June are scorching and very dry. The plant doubles it strenght. The flower goes well thanks to the dry weathers. July is conveniently the coolest for 30 years. In August, the month is divided between beautiful and dark weather.

The abundance of humidity and the hot season give to the concern, threatening with the rot. Wind and sun inaugurate the harvests. The tension eases off. The maturity is going on with the rot, the grapes are cleaned up of some contaminated bunch and tannins will go up for the end in sight moving towards the quality.

The soil is left impoverished after this 2009 vintage. The harvests barely over, it starts pouring raining heavily. The rain is back in the springtime after a harsh winter. Alas it lingers on the Merlot flower and triggers flower abortion and millerandage over a third of the surface.

The start of the summer is scorching. August is noticeable thanks to the temperature difference between night and day. The rain is still absent; on the other hand, the night great freshness of the nights and the moderately high temperatures of the days tend to limit drying out. However, there was a growing concern regarding this drying out, hence the great relief all over Médoc after a few days of heavy rain in early September. The rain is well timed in reaching us during the harvests, at the time of the Merlot / Cabernet-Sauvignon respite.

Following a rather chilly winter, the 2009 viticultural campaign is remarkable with a rainy start of the season and a very dry end of the season: April and May saw copious showers, August and September were very dry. Paradoxically, the plant evolved without a jolt, flowering was fast and steady and veraison was homogeneous.

The swing towards the great vintage year happens within the 20°celsius amplitude, between August and September days and nights.

In these conditions, maturing is continuous, taking full advantage of the drought rather than suffering from it. The climate remains summery up to early October.

Two climatic events left their mark on the year 2008 : firstly there was the early April frost and secondly hail at the end of July. However, from June to mid-July, the crop evolves serenely. Later in August, the occasional lack of sunshine prevent temperatures rising. Without being too cool, August does not bring the expected and necessary heat. Heavy showers throughout the second fortnight put the prevailing tension at its peak. A total and bold sunshine is badly needed up until September 13th.

A turn around in climatic conditions occurs in the remaining days of September, and all through the harvests, thanks to a perfect combination of dry weather, cool at night and warmer during the day, with plenty of sunshine and a mild breeze.

Winter 2007 was not very harsh. However, due to a rather cool month of march, the early april vine bud-break (similar to what happened in 2006) was not particularly precocious. The april last two decades were very hot indeed. The thermometer came close to 30°C several days in a raw, from april 10th to april 23rd.

The blooming and the veraison were on time and went smoothly. In august, on the other hand, the weather was fresh, dark and punctuated with storms. The failing sunshine until the last days of the month, adjusted itself radically during the early september days. September will be perfect and will make up partially for the august heat defects.

The august climate conditions have interfered with the start of maturation.
The sunshine was less generous than during the past two months, and temperatures fell below what is normally expected (august 2006 was the freshest since 1986, offering nevertheless a highly-rated vintage year). This abnormally fresh climate did slow down the veraison that had started precociously.

The grape harvests relative delay allowed a benefit in maturity that mid-july and august had conceded with great difficulty.In the end, the Cabernet-Sauvignon grapes have ripened.

The remembrance of a high-quality vintage year will linger on when thinking back of 2005, a year during which the climate, from winter to autumn, was exceptionally dry regarding the Bordeaux standards. The end of spring and the following summer were hot, with plenty of sunshine but no heatwave.

In august, the temperatures amplitude between day and night has rushed the ripeness without rising the alcoholic degrees. These factors set the balance very high between sweetness and acidity. In september, the progressive abatement of summer temperatures establishes this balance while rendering the grape harvests precocious and confortable.

In winter, temperatures below normal, along with a hydric deficiency have been noticed. The bud-break started in april but rain and cold weather prevented vegetation from growing normally.

In spring, the month of may has been relatively hot and rainy. The second decade’s nice weather has eased the beginning of budding within the most precocious plots.
Summer was not very hot, the month of july has seen a satisfying insulation, light rains and average temperatures, except for some hot peaks at the end of the month. Quite the contrary in august, when rains were quite heavy, sunshine and temperatures not as high as expected.

A very wet autumn. Temperatures quite cold in january and february. Milder in march. Fear of frost in april but temperatures on the up towards normality in may.

On the other hand, june has seen very high temperatures that carried on until the end of july. The average temperatures in august were 5°C above normality. Finally in september, high temperatures continued but were nevertheless conform to normality, thus ensuring optimal maturation conditions.

A dry and cold autumn. From november to april, a drought situation due to a lack of rainfall. May sees a renewed outbreak of heavier precipitation, in opposition to the past two months. The following month of june is on the contrary hot and dry, forewarning a hot and dry summer 2002.

August sees frequent rainfall and cold temperatures. Ditto september. In mid-september, long sunny periods will allow the beginning of the maturation process.

Along with heavy rainfall, winter 2001 was relatively warm, which triggered a precocious start of the vine activity. April was rainy like the previous months, and saw very low temperatures on short periods of time. Then after a dry period in may and june, the return of rainfall during the first twenty days of july, which were fresh as well. August was hot and fairly rainy. The beginning of maturation was relativeley slow to get under way, due to an alternation between rain and heat.

The average temperature in september were lower than expected with heavy rainfall. The maturation process ended with a long, fresh and very fairly wet period. These climatic conditions were perfect for getting grapes that would lead to the elaboration of complex, elegant wines, with a strong fruit presence.

Presence of downy mildew (brown rot), that will be of no consequence thanks to the following months. April and may hot and humid.

A restored situation in june with better climatic conditions.This situation carries on in july and august with milder temperatures, never exceeding 35°C. An alternation of rainfall and clear weather in september, that proves to be salutory to the maturation process.