Harvest 2009

2009 has been a fantastic year. We have been rewarded with a combination of superb quality and quantity. We will continue to offer top quality wines in 2009 as is the tradition of Jo Pithon’s wine making style.

The season leading up to the harvest was fairly dry. We had a little scare during the flowering season of frost but fortunately our vineyards were not affected. The drought allowed the roots to grow deeper in search of alternative water sources. This in turn allows for the true nature of the taste of the terroir to exhibit in our wines. A few weeks prior to the harvest, the Anjou area had 30mm of rain fall in approximately one week. This rain was needed to give the grapes the juice which will eventually be transformed into delicious wine.

We started the 2009 harvest at La Fresnaye on 29 September. The Chenin Blanc was measuring at 13.5° sugar / alcohol potential. This important measurement is practiced continually throughout the season to monitor the grape maturity in the vineyards. We choose the harvest dates when the grapes are mature but the alcohol potential not too high.

So on 29 October, with our new picking crew we started the harvest. After picking the grapes we transported them to Château La Fresnaye and emptied the cases into the press. We believe in not stressing the grapes by pressing too hard too quickly, so armed with a glass of2008 wine in our hands we manually controlled the press for the rest of the night. We generally press the grapes twice allowing for the juice to trickle through the rest of the grapes onto the pan which we will then pump through to a tank.

Next harvest was Les Treilles. Climbing and descending selecting only the maturist of the grapes for making dry wine. This was the first of four times that we would be harvesting at Les Treilles. The next 3 times we would be selecting the grapes past maturity with Botrytis Cinifera to make sweet wine. Being practically impossible to descend with a full case of grapes we were thankful to have Joseph on the caterpillar emptying our buckets. We had comfortable weather throughout the 4 harvest selections at Les Treilles, sun shining and a little breeze to relieve the mountain climbing escapade. As we reached the top we were rewarded with spectacular views of vineyards with their autumn colors. Deep breath as we prepare to descend.

Savenniéres had perfect conditions. The grapes were golden yellow in maturity. Completing the harvest at Savenniéres, we had time the afternoon to prepare the cave. We ferment and age all our dry whites in oak barrels. Once the barrels are aligned we rely on the powers of gravity via a wine hose to fill the barrels.

In the meantime we received our négoce grapes. We are happy to announce that the 2009 vintage will be all in organic practices. The Anjou Blanc will be a blend of schist and limestone terroirs. For the Anjou Blanc we have shared the wine in oak barrels and a 60 hl oak tank. We will blend these two together before the bottling in 2010.

From the vines of La Fresnaye, Chinon and Bourgueil, we started harvesting the Cabernet Franc grapes. Throughout our vineyards and the grapes that we bought we saw great maturity. The red grapes spend approximately 3 weeks in skin contact during just before the end of the fermentation. Afterwards we press the grapes slowly to extract the juice but not too much tannin. This will then finish fermenting in barrels.

Botrytis Cinerea was maturing wonderfully on the grapes that were left behind. Botrytis is a fungus that removes water from the grapes, leaving behind a higher percent of solids, such as sugars, fruit acids and minerals. Continuing the selection aiming for 18° at La Fresnaye and 22° at Les Treilles, we achieved that and better. At Quart de Chaume we managed to harvest with the sugar level measuring at 24°. The skins of the grapes are more fragile with Botrytis, so we decided to use a vertical press. The vertical press is much gentler on the grapes and is also used for a small volume. For example at Les Treilles we have 320l and Quart de Chaume only 60 litres. We have enough Les Treilles to ferment and age in one barrel and the rest, as well as Quart de Chaume are fermenting in glass bottles.

As winter approaches we continue to follow the fermentation of each of our wines growing as if they are our children. We look forward to a fantastic 2009 vintage.