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Wine Description
The Story
La Mission Haut Brion is situated in Bordeaux' southern suburb, Talence. From 1919 and until 1983, it was Woltner family, who had owned this property. Under Woltner's reign, La Mission Haut Brion experienced one of its greatest period with string of fine vintages and was considered then as fully on the level with First Growths and sometimes even better than these. In 1983, owners of Haut Brion purchased La Mission Haut Brion and today its Jean Philippe Delmas, who's responsible for this property.
La Mission-Haut-Brion's vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 48%, Merlot 45%, Cabernet Franc 7%) lie on a large (up to 18 metres deep in places) gravel bank interspersed with clay. The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel vats and then matured in oak barriques (100% new) for 18 months. The wines of La Mission Haut Brion are rich, oaky and powerful and need at least 10 years of bottle ageing before they should be broached.
Wine Information
Jean Philippe Delmas / Château Haut-Brion / Vintage 2012
The first notable estate to begin picking for the white wine was Chateau Haut Brion and Chateau La Mission Haut Brion. They began harvesting, September 4, 2012. This was followed one day later by Chateau d’Yquem which started picking Sauvignon Blanc, September 5. Those early pickings are destined to be used in their dry white, Bordeaux wine “Y.” The real news for lovers of Chateau d’Yquem is the rain that fell in late September. That is exactly what is needed to help with the development of noble rot, or botrytis. 2012 marks the first vintage that the dry white wine of Chateau d’Yquem will be vinified in their new, gleaming vats. Chateau Haut Brion picked in the early morning hours as usual, with the goal being to preserve the grapes freshness and aromatic complexities. Jean Philippe Delmas described the fruit by saying it reminded him of fresh, sweet, peaches, pears, and even citrus.
Chateau Haut Brion completed their harvest for the white wine grapes at Haut Brion September 14. We managed to speak with Jean Philippe Delmas about the 2012 Bordeaux harvest for the white wine grapes at Haut Brion.
Tb: What dates did you start and finish your white wine harvest for the Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Sauvignon Gris?
Jean Philippe Delmas “For the Sauvignon Blanc, at Château Haut-Brion the harvest started September 5 and took two days, ending September 7. The Sauvignon Gris was picked in one day, September 6. We finished with the Semillon on September 14, after 4 days of picking.”
Tb: Was it the same dates for Chateau La Mission Haut Brion?
Jean Philippe Delmas It was almost the same, except it was one day earlier. We started picking the Sauvignon Blanc at Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, September 4, ending September 6. The Sauvignon Gris was started and finished September 4. The Semillon was harvested between September 6 and September 14.”
Tb: What are the potential alcohol levels and pH?
Jean Philippe Delmas “For Chateau Haut Brion, the alcohol is 14% and the pH is 3.37. For Chateau La Mission Haut Brion, the alcohol is slightly higher and there is a bit more freshness as the pH is 3.32.”
Tb: While it’s far too early, can you please let me know from an analytic point of view, what previous year does the 2012 Bordeaux vintage remind you of for the white wines?
Jean Philippe Delmas “At this stage of the winemaking process, from an analytic point of view, the 2009 vintage would be the closest.”
Soil: gravel soil with a subsoil of clay and sand Production area: 48 ha Grape varieties: 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 42% Merlot Average age of vines: 37 years Harvest method: by hand with the sorting out on trailers Winemaking: computer controlled pumping-overs and thermoregulation according to the temperatures of the must and the marc Ageing: 18-22 months in 80% new barrels
Vintage 2012
The 2012 Bordeaux vintage report.
The 2012 Bordeaux vintage is a year for vineyard management and workers. Call it a winemakers vintage, or change your tune and call it vineyard managers vintage. Either descriptor works perfectly. Wineries with the financial capacity to take the necessary measures in the vineyards during the season, coupled with the willingness to severely downgrade unripe grapes, will produce the best wines. Even then, it will be a difficult vintage with small quantities of wine. From start to finish, the 2012 Bordeaux vegetative season and harvest were stressful for the winemakers, the vines and with the grapes being vinified, the winemakers.
The 2012 Bordeaux vintage did not get off to a good start. After a cold winter and a wet spring, the April rains soaked the Bordeaux wine region. After the April rains, there were outbreaks of mildew, which required spraying. The month of May was warmer than April. Things calmed down a bit in June. All this resulted in late and uneven flowering. This resulted in small clusters of berries that ripened at different times, lowering quantities and requiring serious work in the vines and intensive sorting at harvest.
Although a growing season is never over until it is, uneven flowering never bodes well. Late flowering pushed back the entire vintage by 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the château. Generally speaking, late harvests are not generally a harbinger of good things to come.
If everything that happened up to the end of June didn't offer what happened next offered additional challenges with the 2012 Bordeaux vintage. After an average July, Bordeaux experienced a heat wave torrid weather and drought in August and September which stressed the vines, particularly the young vines. At one point, temperatures soared to 42 degrees Celsius, or 107 degrees! Other days crossed 100 degrees. It was extremely hot and dry. The vines stopped and the vintage was on track to be even later than expected. Towards the end of September, things improved with the much-hoped-for combination of warm days, cool nights and desperately needed rain, which helped nourish the vines. The first few days of October offered reasonably warm temperatures during the day, coupled with cooler weather at night for growers with Merlot ready to pick.
In the Médoc, you had to hurry and wait. Tom Petty could have exploded with “Waiting is The Hardest Part” because producers had to wait because Cabernet Sauvignon had difficulty maturing. It was already October. Conventional wisdom says that at one point there was little to gain by waiting and more to lose, so the 2012 Bordeaux harvest began to take place. Some estates began picking young Merlot in late September, but most held back until around October 1, and a few producers waited a week or more. Most growers brought in all their fruit by mid-October.
Pomerol is usually the first appellation to harvest, due to their Merlot dominated vines. It is interesting to note that the picking took place simultaneously on the left bank on October 1st. Many properties in Pessac Léognan started their harvest before Pomerol. Château Haut Brion began work on their young Merlot vines on September 17th and Château Haut Bailly was not far behind, with a start date of September 27th. Most castles were in the thick of things on October 4, although Domaine de Chevalier waited until October 8.
While the pleasant, cooler weather was initially forecast to continue, on October 8 things changed quickly when massive amounts of rain fell across the entire Bordeaux region. With accompanying temperatures in the mid-60s and higher in some areas, winemakers were concerned about the potential for Botrytis, due to the humid tropical conditions. At this point, the fruit had to be picked, regardless of the state of ripeness. Like last year with the 2011 Bordeaux vintage, maturation was uneven. It wasn't just the bunches that weren't ripening, individual grapes in bunches reached varying degrees of ripeness, making sorting more important than ever. Optical sorting was used more than ever with the 2012 Bordeaux harvest.
