Harvest Chronicles at Château Latour - Pauillac

The « veraison » at  Château Latour (change of colour) started at the beginning of August. Temperatures peaking as high as 45 °C were mesured inside the vines truncksin the first 10 days of the month, preventing growth. The vine must have protected itself by closing all its « light receptors » to the attacks of the sun. Due to these extreme conditions, maturation slowed down and hence ripening was somewhat heterogeneous. As a result, the precocity that had been running since the flowering was reduced by the excessive climatic conditions of summer.

Fortunatly, it finally rained twice, at  Château Latour, on the 19th and 31st of August, (approximatly 20 mm of rain) which enabled the vines to resume their growing cycle. From the beginning of September, the weight of the grapes and the polyphenols levels increased noticeably. In spite of all this, 2003 stands as one of the earliest vintage in the history of Château Latour, as we strarted harvesting the first merlots on September 8th. Ripeness is excellent for this grape variety with potential alcohol degrees between 13 and 14 ° and with mature and extractible polyphenols. The sanitary condition of the harvest at Château Latour is perfect, although their is less acidity than in the last few vintages harvested.

The Cabernet Sauvignon ripened somewhat later. However in the « Enclos », we can already see a clear improvement in the structure of the skins due to the discrepancy in temperature between day and night.The dryer terroir suffered more and ripened with delay.

Merlots grapes are in a perfect sanitary state, with a lovely colour and are picked in the best possible climatic conditions. The cabernet sauvignon has a deep dark color. The 2003 vintage at Château Latour is very promising.

Frédéric Engerer at Château Latour

http://www.chateau-latour.fr/index_fra.html

TOP