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2023 Vintage Report
Winter was marked by relatively low temperatures and heavy rainfall. Budbreak occurred in mid-March. The rainy weather and rather warm days encouraged the vine to grow continuously, at a frantic pace. The teams had to be on the alert, relentlessly observing the vineyard to prevent any risk of disease and to be able to step in rapidly. The advantageous position of the vineyard, where air circulates well, which limits the length of time leaves retain moisture and the constant watchfulness of the winegrowers in the vineyard made it possible to prevent the development of diseases, in particular mildew, the pressure of which was extremely intense.
Flowering and then the formation of clusters occurred in excellent conditions, promising an abundant harvest of grapes. Throughout the whole season, green work, so necessary in this year, was stepped up. In half of the vineyard, leaf-thinning was done on the sunrise side. Green harvests were increased, whereas trimming was restricted to maintain the coolness of the soils and to protect the grapes from the risk of sunscald damage, by enabling them to benefit from the shade provided. Harvests of white grapes began on 24th August, in sweltering heat. As in previous years, the grapes were only picked in the morning and transported in refrigerated vehicles, to protect the aroma precursors.
This special care was combined with meticulous sorting in the vineyard and on arrival at the vat house. The first juices of white grapes promised a fresh vintage, with lovely crisp liveliness. Harvests of red grapes started on 6th September, in good weather conditions, although very hot. The grapes were ripe and concentrated for all the varieties, with an abundance in phenolic compounds rarely seen before and a very good content of sugar. As for the juices, they were fresh and fruity. The bountiful harvest stretched out over 20 days for all of the plots and in weather conditions that remained summery.
2020 Vintage
A rainy winter and springtime required swift responsiveness from the teams to go in to do their work in the vineyard at just the right moment. Subsequently, a drought took hold from the beginning of the summer and then, on the contrary, it was necessary to limit work in the vineyard as much as possible, so as to protect the vines from the sun. Two months without rain, interspersed by peaks of very high temperatures slowed down the vine’s growth somewhat and curbed its advance, even though ripeness was very early.
"2020 is a unique vintage in every way. We had to be patient to wait for the ripeness we hoped for, but above all, 2020 will be remembered as a vintage with a very significant human factor. All these conditions make 2020 a remarkable vintage; concentrated wines, sustained by astonishing freshness enable La Mission Haut-Brion 2020 to be a huge success,
in red as well as in white." Jean-Philippe Delmas
Harvests
The harvests for white grapes began on 19th August, with the sun shining brightly. Given the heat, the main concern was to protect the grapes’ aromas: picking was done only in the mornings and refrigerated transport carried the grapes to the vat house.
At the end of the month of August, harvests of white grapes were completed. A week later, they began for red grapes. This short interlude was necessary and beneficial to attain the perfect aromatic balance and ripeness of the red grapes. When picking them, the challenge was to work in the shade as much as possible, not only to protect the grapes, but the harvesters too. All these precautions and the teams’ patience paid off: on arrival at the vat house, few berries were discarded during sorting by density testing; this was a sign of consistent ripeness and a very healthy, promising crop. When fermentation was only just finished, the juices clearly showed the ripeness already observed in the vineyard.
A CUT ABOVE - Château La Mission Haut-Brion launches the ultimate wine box at Harrods
Harrods has teamed up with one of Bordeaux’s most renowned châteaux to create the limited edition La Mission Haut-Brion “A Cut Above” for the ultimate wine dinner. Each of these six handcrafted cases (£5,000, available from Friday 25 November) comprises four of the estate’s most celebrated vintages – reds from 1982, 1989 and 2000, and a white from 2009 – as well as a set of 12 knives that sport handles made from the château’s own barrel staves: six from a red wine barrel and six from a white one.
The cases were designed and created by Technew, a Swiss workshop better known for producing boxes to house fine jewellery and watches, and the knives are the work of Artisan Coutelier, a French knifemaker that handcrafts fine cutlery. Each case comes with a signed letter from Prince Robert of Luxembourg, president and CEO of La Mission Haut-Brion’s owner Domaine Clarence Dillon – what it says therein, only your dinner guests will ever know.
The launch of La Mission Haut-Brion “A Cut Above” follows the announcement that Harrods will be relocating its prestigious wine store from its home in the 650sq m basement to make way for a 250-seat restaurant. Harrods reassures that the Wine Room will continue in another form, although its new location in the building has yet to be revealed.