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Wine Description
The Story
CHARACTER OF THE RICHEBOURG / The robe, or colour, is feminine, the nose masculine. The mouth is full of life with an incomparable richness, a generosity which is sometimes overwhelming. To the Eye
Everything depends on the vintage and the age of the bottle. A Richebourg can be a velvety ruby colour or a dark nocturnal red, shading towards blackish purple. The colour is always intense and dense, luminous and shot through with gleams of carmine.
To the Nose When young, this wine reveals aromas of musk and Russian leather, with touches of sandalwood. With age it acquires scents of hawthorn and peachblossom. Two aromatic families can be distinguished: hints of lichen, woodland undergrowth and mushrooms on the one hand, on the other the scent of cherries, blackcurrants, cooked or preserved fruits. In the Mouth When young this wine positively explodes, intense and violent. It needs to be allowed to age for several years, during which time it will become expansive and warm. Elegant and racy, it is capable of a long life, and wines from the great vintages are superb, the very image of sensuous pleasure. They occasionally have more finesse than structure, but may conversely be massively fruity and enthusiastic, compact and muscular in temperament.
TOTAL AREA FOR THIS APPELLATION:
8 ha 03 a 45 ca
AREA UNDER PRODUCTION AT THE DOMAINE:
31 a 12 ca
SOIL:
Fairly clayey resting on limestone
GRAPE VARIETY:
100% Pinot Noir
AVERAGE AGE OF VINES:
40 to 60 years
HARVESTING:
Harvesting exclusively by hand
DESTALKING:
Depending of the quality of the vintage
MATURING:
100% New oak barrels
Vintage 2004
2004 VINTAGE in Burgundy
2004 will be remembered as the year of wonderful surprises. The month of September was hot, dry and sunny contributing to an excellent harvest which in turn gave birth to fruity, elegant wines.
The harvest started on the 13th September in Burgundy, the Mâconnais and the Côte Chalonnaise during a long awaited spell of mild weather following a summer characterised by climatic instability.
These conditions slowed down the colouring of the grapes, disturbed the start of ripening and provided ideal conditions for the development of oidium. Luckily the return of a long period of warmth and sun from the beginning of September onwards accelerated the ripening process with a sharp increase in sugars.
This summery weather accompanied by a warm drying wind also allowed for the vines to maintain a satisfactory sanitary state. The hailstorms unfortunately destroyed a number of important parcels in the Mâconnais and in the vineyards of the Côte d?Or at different stages of their vegetative cycle. Contrary to 2003, nature showed herself to be kind and the wine-growers had to go ahead with intensive green harvesting to control the yields, taking off the damaged grapes or leaf-thinning.
In mid-september estimations put the forthcoming harvest at about 10% above that of an average harvest.
Although the particularly successful 2002 and 2003 vintages are tasting beautifully at the moment, it is still to early to define the profile for the 2004 vintage.
We will have to wait until after various tastings in November in Beaune, Chablis and in the Auxerrois region before getting a preliminary idea of the qualities of the 2004 harvest.