After more than a month of hard work, we have just finished running off the vats.
The first Merlots are already in malolactic fermentation, some vats are even finished, while the remaining Cabernet Sauvignons are waiting for the alchemy to happen.
The high levels of malic acid for this vintage gives us hope for a fairly quick process and a relaxing of the wines.
The finished wine will go through a cold phase during one month for a natural clarification, before being put in barrels for one year.
This vintage is bright, colorful, with silky tannins. Its qualities will make sure that we forget about the small production achieved, characteristic of the 2008 vintage in Bordeaux.

Today October 13th: the weather is absolutely gorgeous. 25°C (77°F) this afternoon in Bégadan with beautiful sunshine and a light wind coming from the east, everything to remind us those beautiful summer days.

This year again, the Indian "Medocain" summer produces quality. Since September 5th, we only had 3 or 4 days of rain which halted a succession of sunny days.

The Cabernet Sauvignons, which we are harvesting, present very interesting characteristics with natural degrees around 12°5 and sumptuous colors.

The first Merlot vats are promising with an intense fruity mark and supple and concentrated tannins.

This year's anxiety comes from low quantities of grape harvested depending on parcels, sometimes lower than 30 hectoliters per hectare.

A fresh and humid spring and a flowering with occasional rain were enough to reduce the production of certain old vines parcels to half an average year.

The 2008 vintage can already be classified among the "weak quantity" harvests but also among the "best quality" harvest. This winter, after malolactic fermentations and the first blending, we'll be able to judge more precisely its hierarchy in the last twenty vintages.

On September 30th, the first merlots of Patache d'Aux were harvested.

Anthocyan and tannic levels, which we observed during sampling in the vineyard, were confirmed.

The good extractibility of the color and the pretty high degree (13° alcoholic natural strength) of this first vat confirm the harvest maturity.

The 2008 vintage seems to be rich in color, powerful and acidities are good. 

It is now the winemaker's turn to make the best of those grapes and help developing the expression of all the complexity of our Médoc and Haut-Médoc terroir.

The 2008 harvest should start at the beginning of October.

Nature makes things right, and the capricious weather of August should be offset by the sunshine of September.

The levels of anthocyanins are higher than those of 2007, with berries substantially the same weight.

This suggests a harvest of great quality, but with volumes lower than those of past years.