Vineyard Diary 2005
December 2005
Fermentation is not quite complete in a couple of lots but we have learned to be patient with our levels of concentration. In the reds, the second, or malolactic, fermentation had not started by the end of the month and, again, we will have to be patient and let nature take it's course.
And so the cycle starts again! The pruning for next season started in December but it is a long slow job which will last until April. The weather traditionally is cold and misty and this year is no different. It is true that you have to suffer for your art!
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December rainfall |
2005 = 92 mm |
2004 = mm |
November 2005
November is winemaking time and the 2005 promises to be very fine indeed. After last years disappointment we may have been blessed with one of our best quality years yet. The vines in 2004 suffered and did not use all their potential, which they released in 2005 to the benefit of quality. We can only keep our fingers crossed that this promise stays throughout the vinification and aging process.
White wine. Our top white grapes had a cold soak on the skins for about 36 hours before being transferred to barrel for fermentation. The Lady Masburel enjoyed a very short cold maceration of just a few hours and was transferred to tank for fermentation.
Red Wine. The 2005 fermentation was very straighforward and maceration times quite long; between 4 and six weeks, to extract tannin and colour to the wine.
We have invested hugely this year in new barrels to honour the potential of the harvest and we continue to experiment with different suppliers to find the best match for our grapes. This year we have bought Nadalie, Marsannay, Remond, Saury and Berthomieu; not cheap but the best french oak.
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November rainfall |
2005 = 76 mm |
2004 = 24 mm |
October 2005
After a 17 day break since picking the Merlot, we finally judged that the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet Franc were ripe and began picking on the 17th and finished on the 19th, a week ahead of last year.
This year we had the pleasure of employing a young winemaker student to help with the harvest and carry out an experiment for his studies. His experiment was to see if we can improve quality by returning to the age old technique of "foot treading" the grapes on reception in the winery, in place of our mechanical rotary crusher.
So for one afternoon we went back to the dark ages and four otherwise sensible men paddled around in young grape juice to break open the grape skins and begin the process of colour and tannin extraction.
The results were startling and somewhat worrying; measured analysis suggests a distinct improvement for good old fashioned feet, but more importantly, the taste was substantially better.
If the difference persists through to the final wine we may all be up to our knees in grapes next year!
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October rainfall |
2005 = 87 mm |
2004 = 75 mm |
September 2005
And before you know it, September has arrived and time for another harvest; it does seem to come around with surprising regularity. We were relieved to reach harvest without adverse weather like our 2004 experience.
We started picking our white grapes; Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle on the 12 September, two weeks earlier than 2004 and a week later than the exceptional 2003. Dry conditions and healthy grapes promised a good crop. Harvesting temperature was cool and potential alcohol level around 13°, very promising. The final crop of Sauvignon Blanc was picked on the 15th and then we waited another 10 days before starting to pick the red grapes. We began with the Merlot which always ripens first and picked healthy grapes at a potential alcohol level of 13.5°, delicious! We continued picking the Merlot until the 30th September and then took a break whilst waiting for the Cabernet Sauvignon to finish ripening.
The Masburel Team anticipating the harvest.
Click to enlarge
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September rainfall |
2005 = 57 mm |
2004 = 38 mm |
August 2005
August is the time for 'rognage' the cutting of excess leaf cover from the ends of the vine fronds. We do this with an attachment to the tractor which straddles the vine rows and cuts excess leaves with spinning blades. Hand leaf removal was also done on both red and white vines. This allows more sun to get to the grapes and allows wind to pass through the leaves and keep them dry. August has been very sunny, indeed the whole summer has been kind. Not quite as hot as 2003 but similar.
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August rainfall |
2005 = 15 mm |
2004 = 162 mm |
July 2005
In July we finished the "relevage" process of vine management and started in on the maintenance of the new plantations; replacing plants that had died, redressing the plastic sleeves that protect the young vines, placing the final posts that support the training wires and attaching the wires to the posts. It's a lot of work with new plantations and the benefit in future quality makes it all worthwhile. Surprisingly, we had to carry out a second 'epaumprage' to remove sucker shoots from the base of the vines to avoid them stealing to much water and nutrition from the vine. Surprising, because we have not had too much rain and the first process has only just finished. More grass mowing was also necessary to avoid the grass between the rows stealing even more water.
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July rainfall |
2005 = 35 mm |
2004 = 31 mm |
June 2005
June was a busy month with two treatments in the vines against the usual dangers of Mildew and Odium. The practice of vine sucker removal from the bottom of the vine trunks was completed throughout the vineyard and then we gave the whole 80 acres a good grass cutting. Despite the fact that we had virtually no rainfall since April, the vines displayed their usual vigorous growth of leaf cover which, left to it's own devices will spread out horizontally to capture the maximum sunlight. This, however, blocks the gaps between the rows and so every branch has to be lifted vertically and secured so as to give access but not reduce the potential for photosynthesis. This process, called relevage in French, is backbreaking work but assisted now by an attachment to our tractor which helps with the physical lifting and securing.
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June rainfall |
2005 = 5 mm |
2004 = 11 mm |
May 2005
The month of May began with the bottling of our Lady Masburel 2004 white wine. This is a blend of Semillon and Muscadelle and, unlike the red wine in 2004, is superb. The white grape vines are better protected than the red and the hail of 2004 did little damage to the white grapes. In fact, we are delighted with the flavour of the whites, which are fresh and packed with exotic fruit flavours. First shipments are off to Britain and the Netherlands straight away to satisfy early demand for summer drinking. The next shipment is due for Germany in June.
The big job at this time of year is 'epaumprage', removing the suckers from around the base of the vines. They have to go because they would otherwise steal the first water to rise in the vine and hinder the plants progress. With over 100,000 plants this is no small task. The vines are bursting with activity and already ahead of schedule for the next phase, 'floraison', which is when the flowers first appear. At the moment the weather is fine so we are hoping for a homogenous flowering.
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May rainfall |
2005 = 21 mm |
2004 = 89 mm |
April 2005
I think we will remember April for the rain! It seemed to pour down the whole month. During one night, when we had 61 mm of rain in 24 hours, our private wine cellar in the Chateau flooded and submerged an electricity socket that knocked out all electric supply to the property. The electricity supply company could not find the problem and laid a new, temporary, cable to get us reconnected, which of course is still in use in May! The best news was that pruning finally finished on April 18th, more or less on schedule. This has allowed other vineyard activity such as replacing broken stakes and wires, ploughing and drainage work. Grass cutting also commenced and, towards the end of the month, the sun came out at last. The combination of warm weather and plenty of ground water now means we are knee deep in grass so the air is full on the smell of freshly mown grass.
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April rainfall |
2005 = 141 mm |
2004 = 105 mm |
February/March 2005
Now the cold has set in it really is difficult to work outside. There have been days when pruning has proved impossible with temperatures dropping to -7°C overnight. The cold is not dangerous for the vines at this time of year but the wood is so hard, particularly the Cabernet Sauvignon which is pretty tough anyway, that pruning had to stop. We have electric secateurs but even they complained at the effort. And talking of complaints, the team was reduced by half during this period with Didier suffering from a bad back and Gustave stricken by tendonitis in his 'pruning' arm. The culprits, perhaps not unsurprisingly, are the new young plants. They are so small and low they would challenge anybody's lumbar region and they are so flexible that they need manual pruning, the electric secateurs don't grip them. So Eric and Michel struggled on alone until it became obvious that we would never finish pruning at half speed. So, bite the bullet, and recruit some temporary labour to help us catch up. Pruning is so specialised that not anybody can do it (which got me off the hook!) and it takes three years to learn the basics.
The cold weather continues and we now realise that it has slowed the evolution of the wines in barrel. Despite an air conditioned store, the wine seems to sense that it is cold outside and slows down it's development. We had planned to bottle the Chateau Masburel 2003 red in March but this has now been postponed until at least May.
The cold winter also has not helped our 2004 red. In January we realised that the hail in August 2004 had badly affected the structure of the tannins and that we would therefore not declare a "Chateau Masburel" top cuvee. We thought though that we would get an even better "Lady Masburel" cuvee as a result. However, continuous tasting in March and April persuaded us that we could not justify bottling the 2004 under the Masburel name. We have spent seven years building the reputation for the quality of our wine and we are not prepared to risk damaging it by bottling lower quality wine. So, perhaps the most difficult decision we have had to make, we have declassified all our 2004 red to AOC Bergerac, to be sold under a different label. It is heartbreaking but unquestionably the right thing to do. So we will have to ask our loyal fans to wait until the 2005 vintage for another great wine. In the meantime we have released the 2002 vintage to great acclaim and the 2003 will be a very good cuvee too.
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Ferbuary/March rainfall |
2005 = 81 mm |
2004 = 75 mm |
January 2005
January was quite a busy time with pruning continuing in the vines and lots of work in the winery, with both the 2004 and 2003 vintages needing loving care. The Lady 2003 red has finished it's development and we put it in bottle during January. It is glorious, although we say so ourselves! Ripe, rich and full of fruit. The Chateau red 2003 stays in barrel and continues it's precocious development. The new "Montravel" red is coming along nicely too.
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January rainfall |
2005 = 31 mm |
2004 = 168 mm |
For other years Vineyard Diary, click below
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006