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Chateau Mission Haut-Brion - Jean-Philippe Delmas
 Mission
Haut.Brion 2006 -
Pessac-Leognan-Graves
A year of contrasts and extremes
We have finished harvesting our grapes on September 29th, 2006! It has now been one month since we started the meticulous harvesting of our vineyards vine by vine,
plot by plot.
The
harvest at
Mission Haut-Brion began on September 7th by picking our red grapes
starting with the
Merlots on September 7th and continuing on with the
Cabernet
Francs on September 18th. On September 21st .we began picking the
Cabernets
Sauvignons
Each year is different from the previous. After 2005, a year of
great heat and drought, the staff at
Mission Haut-Brion had to deal with a completely different type of
vintage. 2006 was characterized by frequent climactic changes shifting from one extreme to another. And this pattern continued on until the end of the
harvest at
Mission Haut-Brion.
The direct consequences of such a climactic variability is a potential of added frailty in the grape cluster due to the growth in the plant and the irregularity of the ripening.
The role of the farmer is to allow the grapes to reach optimal maturity in the most favourable
conditions. It is true that the work for the technical staff at
Mission Haut-Brion
was not easy this year and yet our success remained attainable.
In order to succeed we needed to accomplish an enormous amount
of work in the vines of the
Mission Haut-Brion estate: we started with an early thinning of the leaves on the
cooler side of the vines by the end of June, followed by a
green
harvest, the purpose of which was to lessen the load on the vine and improve the
balance and air circulation. Later, a second thinning out of leaves was carried out. This required great care so as not to damage the
remaining berries. Last but not least man plays an essential role in the sorting of the
grapes during
harvest time. In a complicated
year such as 2006, such a level of care becomes particularly
crucial to produce
Mission Haut-Brion's great wine.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the hundred, or so, seasonal workers who stood with us
at Mission Haut-Brion for a long period of at least three months while we
were waiting for the optimum moments for the picking of each
varietal
and each plot at
Mission Haut-Brion.
Therefore, thanks to the great preparation and work on the
sorting tables in the vineyards, the technical staff working in
the vat room of
Mission Haut-Brion was able to witness the arrival of containers of perfectly healthy
ripe grapes.
The
Merlots
are currently in the final phase of their
fermentation at
Mission Haut-Brion and we are surprised by their density in color and
the high degrees in
alcohol
reached as well as their strong
tannic
structure.
As for Cabernets Franc and
Sauvignon
at
Mission Haut-Brion, which are still fermenting at this hour, we will let you know how
they evolve in due course.
Today, on Tuesday, October 3rd, we were surprised in the early hours by a
huge storm which approached in intensity the one that hit us in 1999. Fortunately, the ferocity of the winds did not last as long as in 1999. However, it was sufficiently strong to bring down quite a number of trees in the park and gardens of
Chateau
Haut-Brion as well as some at Château La
Mission Haut-Brion. It goes without saying that we were very relieved to have had our entire 2006 crop already in the vat room!
Jean-Philippe Delmas Chateau Mission Haut-Brion
Chateau Mission Haut-Brion
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