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Wine Description
The Story
Richebourg is a king of a wine: the Colonnade of the Louvre, the Château of Versailles. You are impressed by its finesse, its length and its delicate sensations, endlessly changing. The fact that no element dominates the others enables you to appreciate all of its aromas, on the nose and on the palate. Force and subtlety in one wine ?
Richebourg reacts well to new oak, which it can dominate completely. It is therefore regularly matured in new casks of oak from the forests of Tronçais and Bertranges. It is easy to guess its depth and finesse, but this is a wine which is frequently discreet during the first months of its maturing period. To express itself, it needs a little encouragement (aeration, for example).
Richebourg requires very few tricks for it to express itself. There's no need to break up the cap or to control the temperature inopportunely; the vinification follows the general rules of the estate; no more, no less. The most important thing is to have ripe grapes to start with, which is not difficult, given the low yields.
Planted during the 1950s, this 'grand cru' vineyard regularly produces small grapes, perfect examples of 'pinot fin'. It is not particularly precocious and likes to take its time to mature; a characteristic which can also be found in the cask, once the wine has been made! The grapes present a fine balance between sugar and acids, certainly at the origin of this appellation's character.
The estate possesses about three quarters of an acre in 'les Verroilles', plus a tenth of an acre in 'les Richebourg', just below 'Cros Parantoux' (or close to an acre in total). The vines are oriented principally towards the east, and they are characterised by being planted in rows running north-south – a protection during hot years. Generally speaking, the site is fairly cool.
Vintage 1993
In Burgundy 1993, an early flowering in the month of June, was followed by a wet early July before a hot dry August. The reds of 1993 are outstanding. They are powerful and concentrated with a firm backbone of ripe tannins. The whites although austere to begin with and slow to evolve have developed into magnificent well structured, powerful wines. A vintage that produced wines built for ageing.
Once again, expectations were high in Burgundy for the 1993 harvest. The flowering was as early as that of 1990 (from 6-11 June) and August was very hot and dry . Despite the bad weather during the second half of June and first ten days of July, with rain and notably hail in the Meurault 1er Cru vineyards of Genevrères, Charmes and Perrières. Burgundy was looking forward to an early harvest of high quality.
The 'ban des vendanges' was set for the 15th September in the Côte de Beaune and 17th in the Côte de Nuits.
As has so often been the case, it was extremely important to undertake a crop thinning in 1993; for those domaines which did not, yields were high and sugar levels mediocre.
The intensity of colour in the red wine and a correct balance between acidity and tannins allow us to hope for wines of an above average quality. The vineyard which were harvested before the rains are particularly rich and elegant. Fortunately, the small berry size of the grapes meant a greater resistance to grey rot which could so easily have been a problem, with the wet weather.
For the whites, the deterioration of the weather in the Côte d'Or prevented the Chardonnay grape from reaching perfect maturity but the wines will nonetheless be pleasant.
