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© S. Peter Smith, 1995
I was going to pick grapes this year in-between tours. However, when I reported for duty at Domaine de Chevalier, Remi asked me to help with the vinification of the red wine, so I made the most of the chance and stayed there the whole time. I learned a huge amount from Daniel, Remi and the rest of the team; far more than I would have got out of picking grapes.
I was doing the pumping over, sulphation, chaptalisation (yes, even in great years there's sugar added in most Bordeaux vineyards!) and they even had me down in the vats making up the bundles of vine cuttings to filter the skins and seeds out of the drains (failed miserably at this - the drain blocked up after about 3 pumpings!).
We also did some experiments with cultured yeasts, to see if they'd be better than the natural yove how winemaking is a combination of an infinite number of procedures and techniques. The final product is made as much by the "seat of the pants" as by science and control. Think of just a few of the factors: the terroir, the choice of wooden, stainless or concrete vats, the maturity and thickness of the skins, how much press wine is added, how often it's pumped over and for how long, the fermentation and maceration temperature.......
© S. Peter Smith, 1995
From the last few days of September the weather was about as good as you could wish for. Those who took the chance to wait for full maturity were rewarded with sunshine for the whole harvest, very little rot from the rain, and great sugar levels. As usual, the latest pickers were Michel Rolland at Bon Pasteur in Pomerol and my good friend François Mitjavile with Tertre Rôteboeuf in St. Emilion, and Roc de Cambes in the Côte de Bourg. The last time I saw François, about the 10th of November, he was "a little concerned" that the fermentation had slowed almost to a stop - too much sugar, and too much "material" in the must. This is a frequent problem for François - some cuves of the '89 slowly fermented for six months before all the residual sugar had gone. François told me that he would give it another week or so, then perhaps think about seeding with cultured yeast if it still hadn't perked up.
© S. Peter Smith, 1995
Remi is well entrenched at Domaine de Chevalier. He's been there for over 10 years, is best friends with Olivier Bernard who owns the place (they met during their National Service), and is married to the daughter of the ex-owner. He says he didn't marry into the Domaine's property, but did inherit a "fairly good cellar" of his in-laws' old stock! If you've been lucky enough to meet Remi at lunch during one of our tours you already know how charming, generous and fun-loving he is. He's also extremely serious about his work, and the Domaine's white wine has to be among the best in the world.
The white grapes are picked individually by hand, in the same way as Sauternes grapes. The first pass is made to remove rotten and under-ripe bunches. Then the grapes are picked, allowing a 3 day window of maturity, in as many sessions as needed (this year only two were needed). Each bunch is sorted by the picker himself before going in small baskets to the press and then into oak barrels for fermentation. Time per hectare? 1250 man-hours. To do this by machine? 40 man-hours! Remi is out there with the pickers every minute, and Olivier's never far away either. This is why the best Pessac-Leognan whites are so special.
A tip from Remi:
Great whites from Pessac-Leognan (Graves) need decanting. A guest mentioned that they'd had an '86 at le Taillevent in Paris, and Remi was shocked that such a great restaurant had not known to decant it. Believe me, it's true. The fat and complexity is only beginning to show after two or three hours in the carafe, and some vintages can benefit from up to 12 hours of breathing.
© S. Peter Smith, 1995
It's still too early to say, but what I saw looked pretty darned good! Most of the estates picked in a couple of weeks, after a spell of classic morning mist/afternoon breezy sunshine which was perfect for Botrytis. A small harvest in most places because the summer was so dry, but as for the concentration .....just wait a few years!
© S. Peter Smith, 1995
We'll be back in Italy and France by April, but before that we plan to spend part of March in Chile, east - no difference in the fermentation, but they'll keep this cuve separate to see the effect after a few years in bottle.
The pumping over and the length of maceration is fundamental to the character of the chateau and the vintage. One thing I learned was how actively the cap is broken up during the pumping over at Dmne. de Chevalier. We were using a wand on the pump hose to pierce the cap so it gets really well broken and completely saturated. This gives a very good extraction of color and tannin, and of course is one of the keys to the making of great Bordeaux.
Most surprising was what I discovered later at Montrose. Bruno has always told me how aggressively the pumping over is done here, and this is of course one reason this wine is so typically "St. Estèphe" - dense, tannic, slow to open up and incredibly long-living. In fact, the pumping was less aggressive here than at Chevalier!