2013

Bordeaux 2013 Vintage Report by Château Palmer /

The winter of 2013 will remain in the memory of our wine artisans as one of the wettest in recent years, considerably complicating their working conditions.

Average temperatures between April 1 and May 31 were the lowest in the decade. At the start of the season, our observations showed a delay of around ten days compared to the 2012 vintage, already considered late.
In May, rainy conditi...

BORDEAUX 2013 VINTAGE REPORT

The 2013 vintage in Bordeaux was one of the most difficult since 1965 and 1968. Thomas Duroux of Château Palmer describes it as “the most complicated vintage in 20 years”. It rained almost continuously in the spring. Flowering was uneven, leading to poor set, millerandage and coulure. The threat of mold was alleviated by the arrival of warm, dry weather during the summer. For a while, winemakers hoped that abundant sunshine and mild weather would allow the vines to catch up. Severe storms, winds and intermittent heavy rains in July and August hampered vine growth and created fruiting difficulties. High humidity and cool temperatures before harvest led to slow ripening and the ideal environment for botrytis (gray rot) infection. Merlot did not perform well on the left bank. Château Margaux was certainly vulnerable to these conditions, but others, in their efforts to talk about the vintage, displayed superb Gallic denial. You would be forgiven for thinking this could be an exceptional vintage; Such is the genius of the world's best professional liars.

In years past, weather conditions, uneven ripening and disease pressure would have resulted in disastrous wines. Château Margaux avoided the worst rains by bringing in a picking team of 300 people to harvest the crop at lightning speed. Chateau Lafite also raced against the elements and won. Most castles don't have this type of luxury. The sorting tables were “drilled” during the harvest, allowing the best berries to be selected. I don't remember seeing red wine with visible botrytis characters. The fruit, however, has generally not ripened to optimal levels. Many producers have found it necessary to chaptalize their vinification to allow the wine to reach a more attractive alcohol level. Some châteaux, including Cos d’Estournel at 12.7% alc, produced their wines apparently without adding sugar. Most areas, however, have struggled to reach phenolic maturity. Tannins are the fabric of all red wines. They don't need to be perfectly ripe; An “al-dente” texture can provide convincing freshness and an attractive structure. But it was easy to extract too much in 2013. The best wines were those that were “unpushed” and intuitive to the conditions of the vintage. The use of saignée (juice runoff), reverse osmosis, and other methods to concentrate wine, is never discussed by winemakers, but there were some wines with soupy textures and a silky feel. unnatural mouth.

Many 2013 primeur wines have only been in barrel for a few weeks. This creates challenges because oak characters can detract from the inherent quality of young wines. Many châteaux will undoubtedly adjust their oak maturation philosophies to match the character of the vintage. Others will use oak as a cosmetic or construction bog to make up for structural inadequacies in their wine. Acidity is also strongly present in the wines this year. This element is essential for the freshness, tension and lifespan of any vintage. In more mature years, acidity tends to play second fiddle, but in 2013, it's first fiddle. Fruit character, perhaps the most important characteristic of any wine, inevitably varies by subregion and vineyard. The best wines of this vintage have the aromatic quality, persistence and depth of good vintages. Ultimately, the most triumphant red wines are proportional to the commitment and financial resources of the wine producer.

Although Merlot struggled in the Médoc, it performed well on the Right Bank. The Pomerol was relatively resplendent with generous fruit and tannin backbones that were riper than elsewhere. St Emilion was also capable of making good wine, but as usual the results were mixed. The reds from Pessac Léognan were muscular and rustic, while the whites were mineral and fresh with strong acidities. Many think that dry whites are excellent. For most Australians, these wines don't really offer value. There were some good Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant red wines made in the Médoc. However, no subregion prevailed. If anything I preferred Pauillac, especially Château Grand Puy Lacoste and Château Batailley.

The humidity which hampered the 2013 harvest in the Médoc and elsewhere worked in favor of the producers of Sauternes and Barsac. There was a “widespread proliferation” of botrytis cinerea (noble rot) during Bordeaux’s wet autumn. The wines range from magnificent to standard in quality. The best ones have beautiful honey, barley water complexity, understated richness and viscosity, and fresh acidity. Château d’Yquem is remarkably good. The biodynamic Château Climens is a beautiful, expressive wine. Every year, I taste it in barrels and in pieces. I can imagine the final blend and it will not disappoint.

The 20% drop in Australian dollar to euro exchange rates over the past year will make the 2013 more expensive than the best vintages 2012 and 2011. Unfortunately, this will have a significant impact on market opportunities in Australia . It is unlikely that the castle owners will lower their prices enough to make this campaign worthwhile. Falling demand from China and a full pipeline to other markets will lead to sluggish sales across the world. Although this year's primeur campaign will test the resilience of the traditional Bordeaux wine trade, there is still an impressive level of optimism. I think everyone is looking forward to moving on after the 2013 vintage. On the other hand, it's the type of vintage, with a hint of bottle age, that could re-emerge in a more favorable light in a few years.

by ANDREW CAILLARD MW

HARVEST REPORT 2013 RED BURGUNDY

As far as weather was concerned, 2013 was not your typical year. It was at times cool, then hot with severe storms, followed by heavy rains hailstorms and then dry times with some occasional warm periods. It is a vintage that growers are calling the ultimate terroir vintage. Whenever you have a vintage that is not over ripe or alcoholic, or under ripe and very acid, the terroir can show through. This is not a vintage that lacked fruit or acidity or charm, it had all three, but it did not have a lot of power or concentration. This was true for many, and especially those who went for more production, or panicked and harvested too early resulting in the lowest sugars since 2008.

The average temperatures for the first 3 months of the year were 5.4oF cooler than normal. Temps were normal in April; May temps were below normal resulting in a very late flowering – the last time flowering took place that late was in 2008. May was also rainy, 34% above normal rainfall levels. It was rainy in June as well which resulted in uneven flowering with shatter and a bad fruit set. This trend (of bad and uneven fruit set) has been going on since 2010 with 2012 having a particularly poor fruit set.

In July the weather became warmer with periods or rain and a devastating hailstorm on July 23rd. Hardest hit were the communes of Pernand, Savigny les Beaune, Beaune, Pommard Volnay and Meursault. Some of the appellations were so badly hit that 100% of their crop was lost, this was particularly the case in Volnay and Pommard. Some of the same appellations were also hit in 2014 making it 4 years in a row with significant hail damage. The fact that this hailstorm came late in the vegetative cycle caused the wine to have a very dry harsh edge which covered up what little fruit there was to begin with.

The amount of sunlight hours was very low in the first 3 months of the year, 30% below normal. However, in July the amount of sunlight was plus 20 in July and August when it counted most. It did not get really hot during the normal summer months of July and August. There were 8 days in July that hit 86oF and above and only 3 in August with the latter half of the month quite cool. As far as rain was concerned, there was nothing more then a trace from August 1st to the 24th, and then nothing much again until September 9th when 1.02 inches fell. There were periods of rain after the 24th, but nothing serious enough to cause any problems with rot.

The fact that it was cool during the month of August prevented any recurrence of mildew and odium which were problems in early July. The cool weather, plus the late flowering, meant that veraison occurred on August 15th and harvest did not begin until the last week of September. Growers harvested in October for the first time in years – not since 2008. The quality of the fruit was far superior in the Côtes de Nuits, as has been the case for many years, other than in the truly great years where all regions were successful. The fact that full flowering was between June 23rd and the 26th made for a later harvest but possibly one of the reasons that the soils were so expressive in the juice.

I was very surprised at the quality of the 2013’s – the fact that they were very fresh and juicy and low in tannins and were not green. They should be drunk in their youth, but some of them were far greater than I could imagine. It is possible that certain appellations are superior to 2012 in the Côte de Nuits if there was careful attention paid to production or hand sorting. It is not a vintage without problematic wines but there is a lot to enjoy.

As far as pricing is concerned, most wines were the same price as in 2012; no one went down in price and a few growers went up. There is very little wine to be had and prices are high in bulk with so many small crops. I am afraid that the lesser appellations such as Bourgogne Rouge are going to go way up because that was the category that was affordable, the Grand Crus from the Côte de Nuits are only for millionaires now.

The Champagne harvest 2013– late, but potentially outstanding

It has been another strange year for Champagne, starting with a cold, wet winter, followed by a gloomy, chilly spring with a lot of rain. Vine development started two weeks behind the ten-year average, and never made up for that lost time.

Along the way came a hot dry summer, boosting fruit quality thanks to the most sunshine ever recorded in Champagne in July and August.

Rain came from 6 September onwards, which helped to fatten the berries - then fortunately stopped in time to allow good conditions for final ripening. Considering the lateness of the harvest, the weather this year was exceptionally good – almost summer-like with unusually warm temperatures and sunshine, and a wind from the east to help keep the grapes healthy.

It was a year of big differences in the timing of the harvest, with picking in the most precocious plots starting on 24 September and in the slower-ripening areas on 9 October. Most plots commenced harvesting in the first days of October – the latest start date seen in Champagne for two decades.

Bearing in mind the economic situation, Champagne's governing body has set the yield limit at 10,000 kilos per hectare. Most crus should achieve this yield, excepting only a few that were partially affected by millerandage (shot berries), hailstorms and botrytis.

An average potential alcohol of nearly 10% ABV and good acidity averaging around 8.5g H2SO4 per litre together suggest a promising balance for the eventual wine. The Champenois are already drawing favourable comparisons with the vintages of 1983, 1988 and 1998 – these too being the product of late harvests.

Napa Valley Harvest 2013 Report

A seamless year of steady weather and optimal ripening brings in above average yields and excellent quality fine wine grapes

10/22/2013 - St. Helena, CA: The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) reports that the region’s winemakers expect to be done with the 2013 harvest within the next week. “Early, even and excellent” are three words being used to describe this year’s growing season and the Napa Valley wine grapes that have come from it, reflecting the consistent quality for which this world famous wine region is known.

A warm, dry spring brought early bud break, helped with canopy vigor and berry size and created ideal conditions for flowering and fruit set under sunny skies. With the exception of one heat spike in late June/early July, temperatures were consistently in the zone for optimal vine activity, resulting in notably healthy vines as fruit went through veraison and started ripening. 

The August 1 start of harvest was the earliest in recent history. White wine grapes came in at a furious pace throughout that month, moving on to lighter reds by early September. Two brief mid-September rains had virtually no impact on the grapes. The vast majority of the more delicate skinned grapes had already been harvested and sunny weather with breezes followed the rains, allowing for the mostly Cabernet Sauvignon that remained to dry out almost immediately. The cooler, sunny weather throughout October allowed the final grapes still on the vine to linger longer, developing more phenolic and flavor maturities with sugar levels remaining steady. 

As this harvest comes to a close, it is about two weeks earlier than other Napa Valley harvests in the last decade. Yields on the whole have been above average.

“In a nutshell, this vintage has given us the extraordinary gift of enabling us to pick exactly what we wanted, when we wanted, at perfect ripeness and ideal hang time,” noted Paul Colantuoni, winemaker at Rocca Family Vineyards.

Winemakers from around the valley agree the 2013 vintage holds exceptional promise and potential and exceeded expectations following on the heels of 2012 – another year that has been described as “nearly perfect.” 

The 2013 vintage in Alsace is characterized by a succession of very dry and very humid periods. November is a month where we generally enjoy drier weather conditions, allowing us to till our vines and add compost without issue. However, at the end of 2012 we were unlucky as we had heavy rain! Fortunately, the relatively early end of the harvest in 2012 allowed us to begin these autumn tasks earlier and allowed the vines to build up their reserves before frost and snow brought in early dormancy in early November 2012. January 2013 confirmed its status as the driest month of the year (a consequence of our semi-continental climate).

A late winter pushed back bud burst to the end of April, making it one of the last recent vintages. A poor May also delayed flowering until the second half of June. Some late-ripening areas in Alsace only finished flowering at the beginning of July. July saw the return of very hot and dry weather, which ultimately led the vines to partially compensate for part of the delay caused by late flowering. With the continuation of this hot weather until the beginning of August, a certain water stress could be observed on certain vineyards at the bottom of the valley (sandy/gravelly soils).

A major hailstorm, in Turckheim and parts of Wintzenheim, reduced the potential harvest by 10 to 40% on August 6. Fortunately, the very dry weather that followed this hailstorm prevented the development of fungal diseases. Late flowering, lack of water and stress caused by hail delayed the color change (veraison) of the Herrenweg vineyard. We are fortunate that the hillsides of Turckheim (Brand, Clos Jebsal and Heimbourg) were considerably less affected.

With the exception of heavy rainfall at the beginning of September, which the vines badly needed, the period until the start of the harvest was very pleasant. Just like in 2012, the sugar content of grapes in 2013 increased very slowly. Acidity levels were very high, similar to 2010, and pH levels quite low. The grapes remained very healthy in September.

The official start of the harvest in Alsace was declared on September 30 for all varieties except Riesling and Gewurztraminer (October 7). We started earlier (September 26) because we felt that our grapes showed perfect physiological maturity and had already reached enough potential alcohol. Unfortunately, a heavy rain on October 5 changed everything. We were able to harvest all of our valley bottom vineyards before the storm, as they do not have the same potential to withstand heavy rains. From then on, the climate was quite difficult, with dry periods of sunshine alternating with precipitation every 3 or 4 days. Fortunately, temperatures dropped drastically (4°C on Saturday October 12!) which helped to slow down the development of botrytis, but it did not help to increase the maturity of the sugar.

The quality of the vineyard (exposure, slope, soil type) and viticulture (anything that helps drainage, grass, lower yields...) made a big difference in reaching maturity earlier, n therefore not forcing the winegrower to wait too long to harvest the grapes. Around October 15, the grapes began to split, but botrytis did not develop significantly. However, here we realized that it was time to finish the harvest. Some southerly winds helped dry out the grapes, but it was difficult to reach the maximum potential maturity of the late harvest.

Grapes harvested earlier fermented quite quickly, but due to the climate and very high acidities, most wines took a year to complete fermentation, especially Rieslings. Most of our wines are dry to very dry (influence of racy acidity) and very few retain significant residual sweetness, even among richer grape varieties like Gewurztraminer. The musts coming out of the press showed great freshness and were quite aromatic. The wines are elegant and distinguished, without any trace of botrytis character. The harvest will be very low: 33hl/ha on average on the estate (22hl/ha in the Grand Cru vineyards, 26hl/ha for isolated vineyards) which also explains the complexity of the 2013 vintage wines.

Vintage Report 2013 Australia

In its annual vintage survey, the Australian Vintners' Federation estimated that the 2013 vintage was up 11% overall from 2012, and was the highest since 2008 at 1.83 million tonnes in total. This catch was 100,000 tonnes above the last six year average of 1.73 million tonnes and 170,000 tonnes more than the 2102 crush of 1.66 million tonnes.

The increase in harvest is attributable to the absence of major events such as diseases or floods that affected previous vintages, as well as the availability of sufficient water for irrigation. In warm inland regions, conditions were generally good for growth - despite the heat. Early season conditions are believed to have contributed to a good growing season. 2013 cannot be described as an “easy” vintage. The Bureau of Meteorology said the summer of 2013 was the hottest on record and was also one of the driest. In addition to heatwaves in southeast Australia, there have been bushfires in southern South Africa and Victoria and very heavy rain along the coast, and extending somewhere inland from southeast Queensland almost to Sydney. Prolonged hot, dry periods produced unusual ripening rates and patterns and an early, highly condensed harvest in many areas. However, the impact of hot and dry conditions was reduced by the availability of water in irrigated areas and generally good winter rains.

In 2013, the crushing of red and white varieties increased compared to 2012, but the increase was much greater for reds. Their contribution to total crush rose to almost 52%, while whites fell to 48% - with reds accounting for 946,000 tonnes and whites 888,000 tonnes. The top three red varieties were Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot – together accounting for 86% of the red crush. However, the share of crushing represented by these varieties decreased compared to 2012, with the tonnage of minor varieties, notably Mataro, Tempranillo, Durif, Sangiovese and Barbera, increasing by a greater percentage than the tonnage of the first five varieties. Dolcetto was the only variety to show a significant decrease in tonnage as a percentage of its 2012 crush. Among the whites, Chardonnay dominated with 45% of the white crush - the second highest contributor being Sauvignon Blanc with 11%, Sémillon being even further behind with 9%. While red crush increased by 14% overall, white crush only increased by 7%. Muscat Blanc more than doubled its 2012 crush, while Muscadelle and Viognier also posted moderate increases. Chenin Blanc, Palomino/Pedro, Riesling, Sémillon and Traminer all showed slight reductions in counter-current crushing, while Doradillo was down 50% (albeit from a small base).

Bordeaux Vintage Report

by BBR

Bordeaux 2013 was a challenge for everyone and considering that the vintage was written off by some, before a wine was even tasted, it is nice to see that good terroir and good winemakers created good wines.

Our Chairman, Simon Berry, in his blog on the potential of this vintage, reflected that “we may never see a bad vintage again.” Weather conditions in 2013 were truly abysmal: only a warm July and August bucked the trend. Some estates – between 20 and 50, depending on whose palates you trust – had the terroir, technology, money or mastery to produce wines truly worthy of their brands. »

Simon Berry concludes that a new model is emerging in the way Bordeaux vintages are evaluated. “There will be no more ups and downs, peaks and troughs, triumphs and disasters – now we will have great years, and perfectly decent years. So maybe we should treat Bordeaux like we treat our music: looking for the latest release from our favorite artist, and buying it hoping to be surprised by their development, or a new interpretation. We could use painting as an analogy, or a favorite actor if you prefer. But the idea of sticking to a group of your favorite châteaux, buying a case or more from each vintage, and observing how they evolve over the years isn't so strange. "

Assessment
red wines from Bordeaux Historically low yields, historically different blends (Ch. Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Pauillac produced a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon for the first time in 2013), and the requirement for rigorous selection, were recurring themes that the winegrowers were keen to discuss with us during our visit to taste the vintage at the end of March and beginning of April 2014.

This, added to the effect of weather conditions during the growing season and differences in terroir, has caused great inconsistencies in style between appellations and even between wines from the same commune or even the same vineyard. Take for example Ch. Margaux, who used no Merlot for the first time in their Grand Vin in 2013, and Ch. Palmer who had 49% Merlot in their blend. These two Margaux properties have different terroir with Paul Pontallier of Ch. Margaux explaining how theirs is perfectly suited to Cabernet Sauvignon and Thomas Deroux of Ch. Palmer being very happy with his Merlot harvest. Good terroir and planting the most appropriate grape varieties have made creating good wine a little easier.

However, winemakers still had a crucial role to play, with the most successful wines of the vintage being able to preserve the balance between the wines' aromatic expression and a precise, silky structure. The rich, fleshy fruits were hard to find and simply came from properties capable of slow, gentle extraction during winemaking. Handling the fruit gently was very important because the grapes were more fragile than in recent years.

2013 is not a great vintage and overall we may not even be able to classify 2013 as a good vintage. But what is unfair is to judge each wine as a collective. In years like these, it's important to taste as many wines as possible and judge them on their merits, while meeting the winemakers to hear about the difficulties they face and learn how they overcame them.

All
Vintage assessments must start with understanding how the weather influenced the winemaking process and it is abundantly clear that 2013 was a complicated vintage. The spring was long and cold, with very heavy rainfall during the first six months of the year. In fact, precipitation has been so high in Saint-Estèphe that Ch. Calon-Ségur recorded an extraordinary 230 rainy days in 2013, compared to a 30-year average of just 124.

Average temperatures in April and May were the lowest in a decade and all of this caused great concern, with many seeing flowering severely delayed and others fearing their vines would close completely. In almost all cases, this lack of sunlight caused coulure and millerandage, which reduced yields.

The 2013 Burgundy Vintage by Etienne Grivot

After a mild and humid winter, the 2013 vintage was finally declared ready quite late. On April 25, a clear departure of vegetation was induced by temperatures 10°C above normal. The beginning of May, however, brought terribly cold weather with temperatures 15° below the seasonal average and heavy rains. We immediately observed aborted grapes.

May 24 brought a near disaster with a morning temperature of 0 to 1°C. June began with good weather and a good northeast wind.
As for the vines, it was clear that the cold gave us the boost we needed to endure this nail-biting period.
June 20 recorded warm weather, if not a heat wave. Flowering had only just begun and storms were threatening.
On July 2, weather conditions were clearly stable. Although spared from the hailstorms, the overall flowering seemed very uneven.
In July and early August, excellent summer conditions led to a strong growth spurt. Despite this, the vineyard remained behind.
On August 25, maturation seemed considerably laborious. The days were hot but the nights cold.
Early September brought more cold and rain. It was not until mid-September that temperatures finally stabilized with beautiful blue skies and a light northeast wind.

Needless to say, 2013 was criticized as having had a difficult growing cycle! And yet, although late in September, the grapes looked incredibly healthy. Although the sugar content wasn't quite up to par, the skins were nice and the seeds were quite ripe. All we could do was wait!

We started harvesting on October 5th. I immediately and intuitively compared this vintage with 1978. Thanks to my aunt Jacqueline Jayer's conscientious habit of writing detailed notes daily, I was able to observe two significant similarities between the two vintages 2014 - 1978. In both In this case, there was a late harvest date - October 8 for 1978. In addition, there was a noticeable lack of seeds, and sometimes only one atrophied in a normal-sized berry.

At this stage, the vines had two priorities: letting the seeds ripen so that they could generate new seedlings, and restoring starch reserves to better withstand the winter and ensure their own longevity. Due to the lack of seeds, the vines were able to regain their energy reserve very quickly and ultimately match the good quality of the skins. As a result, we had an incredibly good vintage.

The wines are deep and dense with an intense color, indicating a judicious compromise between pulp and energy. I love this vintage and am convinced that, like its 1978 predecessor, it will, at some point in its life, be described as both voluptuous and blessed with beautiful freshness.