Le Clarence de Haut-Brion

Winter was rainy and relatively cold.  As soon as budbreak occurred in mid-March, the vine’s growth was extremely vigorous, encouraged by regular rainfall and warm days.  This rapid growth required the teams to swing into action in the vineyard, where watchfulness of the vine’s health needed to be faultless.  Commitment from all the winegrowers, as well as the vineyard’s very privileged position, where leaves retain moisture for a short time thanks to good circulation of air here, made it possible to avoid a marked spread of mildew during the growing season, despite the pressure it represented. 

Flowering came about in excellent conditions and gave the sign of an abundant harvest.  This year called for a return to more green work: substantial green harvests were done, as well as leaf-thinning on the sunrise side of the row, in half of the vineyard.  On the other hand, trimming was restricted to maintain coolness in the soils and to protect the grapes thanks to the shade provided. Harvests of white grapes began on 21st August in scorching sunshine.  The grapes were healthy and working times were adjusted in order to pick the fruit only during the coolest hours of the day.  Refrigerated vehicles were used to transport the crop and the pace of the harvests remained steady so as to protect the aromatic qualities of the white grapes. 

These were particularly good, with acidity preserved and a satisfactory alcohol content, predicting pure, delicate wines, full of freshness.  For the red grapes, harvests started on 6th September, with the weather still very hot.  Ripeness was very good for all the varieties and the grapes showed superb concentration, rich in sugar and in phenolic compounds.  The berries were fresh and ripe, packed with taste.  The crop was abundant and this considerably prolonged the harvests, which continued right up until October, with the weather still very summery.  Days of heatwave did not take away the fruity, fresh character of this vintage.