2017 Vintage
Harvest
The crop started progressively mid-September. We began with the plants and seedlings. Then we prepared ourselves to harvest the old vines at good maturity. 2017 will remain in the memories as the vintage of the frost but 2017 is above all an early vintage with a regular and fast flowering and a homogeoues veraison. The great terroirs gave great grapes. Very early, bunches presented a remarkable wealth in anthocyans ; juices are fresh and colored. Merlots are plumps and gourmands. Cabernets reveal complex aromas.
Informations
Varietals
67% Cabernet Sauvignon
33% Merlot
Aging
French oak barrels
60% new oak barrels
40% one-year-old barrels
Harvest proportion
54% Château Cantenac Brown
Harvest dates
Merlot: Sept. 14th – 21 rst
Cabernet Franc: Sept 26th
Cabernet Sauvignon: Sept. 27th – Oct. 2nd
Year 2017
After a cold January month, February and March were quite mild and the budburst was fast and homogeneous. The vintage began to look promising; April was particularly beautiful, with important thermal amplitudes. The wind shi ed to the North. At dawn of April 27th and 28th, the sky was perfectly clear and temperatures fell below 0°C (32F). We are lucky; as the majority of Château Cantenac Brown vineyard did not suffer too much loss.
After this climatic shock, the following months were hot, especially the end of June where a heat wave boosted the vegetation. It was a true godsend.
In July and August, temperatures stayed reasonable; while the vines remained advanced compared to the thirty-year average. Finally a vintage in 7 with a high-quality level ? The summer was slightly fresher than usual and the rains during the beginning of September removed any doubt, we will not harvest a 1947. What a pity !
Nevertheless, the vintage has a great potential, thanks to all the attention to detail including leaf thinning, removal of secondary shoots, and even green harvest on some particular plots too overloaded.