We experienced a dry and mild winter, followed by a rainy start to spring, which was good for the vines. However, nothing could have prepared us for the HOT summer that followed. Three months of uninterrupted heat (from mid-June to mid-September) meant the vines had no respite at all. Since water stress had begun much sooner, we started the harvest on 2 September – about two weeks earlier than usual.
Fortunately, the weather was kind to us in September and October (i.e., without rainfall), so we were able to spread the harvest over a good four weeks, eventually finishing on 4 October.
This year was special in that almost all the harvesting was done at night to prevent oxidation of the grapes caused by the intense heat (until then, only our white grapes had been harvested at night). And because of the persistent heat, we decided to start harvesting the unirrigated vineyard plots.
I almost forgot to mention the most important thing, which is that we have installed irrigation systems on some of our plots, especially on the younger vineyards. Why did we choose the younger vines? Simply because their root systems have not yet developed enough to draw water from our clay and calcareous soil. If global warming becomes an irreversible trend, irrigation will be essential for the survival of winemaking. In the end, we had a quantitatively halfway normal harvest again, which helps me to consign 2021 (without regret) to history.
During vinification, we adjusted our protocols by carrying out alcoholic fermentation at lower temperatures than before. To achieve a slow and better extraction, we left the marc to macerate in our tanks for a good three weeks. The musts are fruity, colourful and balanced, which makes me optimistic about this year’s vintage.
All the all, the quality has returned and with a high concentration.
Incidentally, we won five medals in competitions, with our two red cuvées proving particularly popular this year:
- Two medals for our CHAMPS ROUGE 2020 red wine aged in stainless steel tanks: Gold from “Amphore des vins biologiques” and a bronze from Decanter.
- Three medals for our AUSINES 2020 red wine aged in barrique: Gold from “Vinalies Internationales“, silver from “Mondial de Bruxelles” and bronze from Decanter.
Yours, David Amiel