Château de Fieuzal

Château de Fieuzal 124, avenue de Mont de Marsan 33850 Léognan France Tel. + 33 556 647 786

[fieuzalen]

It’s all moving too fast!

Dear all, 

Without a doubt, this 2020 vintage will remain etched in our memories. It’s an early-ripening one and I can already anticipate the quality.

Never in my career have I harvested this early. We began on the 19th  August with the Sauvignon Blancs of “Ferbos” and ended the white harvest on the 3rd September with the Sémillons of “Haut Gardère”. We needed 9 days to harvest our 80,000 white vines in optimal conditions, carefully and precisely choosing the right moment to pick each plot.

At the start of August, we realised during our first ripeness tests that acidity levels were dropping off quickly. Those who know me well know that this parameter is one that I judge to be extremely important for the whites, but also for the reds. I believe that the freshness and tension of our wines is what defines the finest bottles of Old World wines, Bordeaux, and dare I say it, FIEUZAL.

As is the case each year, grapes are harvested by hand and transferred to the pneumatic press using small baskets to preserve the bunches and avoid any oxidation. The pressing is a key process for the quality of our future wines and, aside from selecting the appropriate pressing program depending on the quality of the fruit each vintage (duration, pressure increase, time at high pressure…), we have put in place a very precise juice selection process to further increase the ‘colour palette’ during blending of our Abeille de FIEUZAL and FIEUZAL whites. As a native of Champagne, I consider the pressing process to be crucial to the future quality of our white wines.

A brief aside: I am constantly questioning myself and what I have learnt, which I appreciate can be ‘exhausting’ for my colleagues. Since I arrived in Bordeaux, people have always been talking to me about skin-contact maceration, a technique that goes against what I’ve been taught. I have tried it this year and for this particular vintage I’ve not been convinced by it. The process might have a positive effect on the aromas of the wine but I strongly doubt that it helps the overall balance of the wines and their acidity, which is lowered due to the extraction of potassium from the skins.

Once the juice has been pressed it is immediately protected by a cloud of CO2 to prevent oxidation, which is harmful to the aromas and colour. Try leaving any fruit juice on your windowsill for a few days and you will see oxygen’s effect on it.

Next is the clarification process, which takes place at low temperatures in small stainless steel vats. The purpose of this is to allow the particulates of ‘lees’ in the juice to settle at the bottom of the vat. This year, the quality of the juice allowed for the process to be light and we have put the wines in barrel with relatively high levels of turbidity, at around 300 NTU or even greater. It’s like being in the kitchen!

As I write, some fermentations have finished and the wines are being stirred with their fermented lees to make the most of the high quality of these solid particulates. We will soon be tasting the whites and I’ll write again to let you know how they are coming along.

We began harvesting the reds on the 8th September, about 10 days earlier than in previous years. We started with the Merlot plots from the “Bouges” area and “La Petite Sibérie”, and we finished harvesting them last Wednesday 16th September. They are superb, since (I think I can now say it with real assurance) I have managed to preserve their freshness…. Freshness, freshness and more freshness.

Harvesting took place in perfect weather conditions with cool nights from the 11th September that will have helped to round off the tannins. We will start again with the Cabernets on the 23rd September and hope to finish by the 1st October. I’m telling you… It’s a historic vintage.

Speak soon,

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

Hello everyone!

We began our green pruning work on the fast-growing vines last week, so here is some news from Fieuzal.

Following a wet winter, with 683mm of rain vs. a ten-year average of a little under 500mm, we finished pruning our 600,000 vines on Friday 20th March. As is the case each year, this process takes a little more than three months to complete. Among other things, it serves to preserve the health of each vine and to predetermine the fruit-bearing shoots for the upcoming harvest.

After pruning the vine branches, we shred the wood back into the ground in the vineyard so that the organic material is reabsorbed into the soil.

We also ‘export’ some branches to be used for our own barbecues and for receptions at Fieuzal.

Once pruned, the fruit bearing branches of each vine are folded and tied to a horizontal wire to ensure a consistent future trellising system. Each vine is fixed in position so that it grows upwards. These annual tasks, which were completed by the beginning of April, always have the same objective: to shape the development of each vine and direct the flow of sap towards the vine’s essential organs. These organs control the growth of the vine stalk and the chosen stems from which new bunches of grapes will be born and ultimately become the chateau’s wines.

Bud break came very early this year, on the 13th March, with the ‘thermal time’ for the first third of the year at 111˚Cd vs. 92˚Cd in 2019. I had already established the growth cycle as well ahead of average, based on the moment of bud break.

Thermal time is the accumulated sum of temperatures above 10˚C since 1st January.

In parallel with this work, we were all mobilised for 8 consecutive nights, following frost alerts from the 25th March to 4th April, with a severe warning on the 31st March due to wet conditions the previous day and some snowfall. Given the early stage of growth of the vines, I predict a limited impact on the upcoming harvest. However, we shall remain vigilant until the 11th, 12th and 13th May, the climatic period known as the ‘Ice Saints’ days’, when cold snaps are often experienced.

As for the wines, Abeille red 2018 was bottled at the start of the year, while Fieuzal 2018 will wait until early July. This will be a memorable vintage for Fieuzal, given its strong, intense character, which for me represents the authentic expression of our terroir.

The 2019 vintage, which everyone is talking about at the moment, is a superb ‘baby’, whose elegance does Fieuzal proud. Freshness, purity and carefully-harnessed concentration are the specific characteristics of this vintage, for which weather conditions were extremely favourable. The wine is ageing in various types of vessel (regular and large French oak barrels, stainless steel and concrete vats) and will reveal its multitude of aromas and flavours when the time comes to blend it.

I shall be back in touch very soon and encourage you to reach out with any questions. I am here to share with you the innermost workings of this wonderful occupation of mine.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

It’s all about details...

[fieuzalen]

Greetings to all!

The moment has come to harvest the grapes, a time of year that we at Fieuzal regard as particularly special. It is the culmination of months of work that began last December with the pruning of the vines.

Apart from two very hot spells during the weeks of 24 June and 22 July, which had a slight impact on the vines’ leaves, mainly due to an insufficiently developed root system, the climate has generally been very favourable, with less rain during the first six months of the year than the ten-year average (437mm vs 534), despite a rainy April (112mm vs 75).

Flowering took place from 27 May to mid-June. It lasted a little longer than usual at FIEUZAL, due to the cool weather and a few periods of heavy rain, which slightly affected the quantities of Merlot due to coulure (flower abortion) and more significantly to millerandage (shot berries).

For the red grapes, véraison (when the grapes change colour) began on 27 July with mid-véraison around 15 August.

The current cool nights are beneficial, refining the aromatic potential of the both the red and white berries.

We will have to wait a few more weeks to harvest the red varieties, but for the white varieties, the moment has arrived! Last week was very busy, with a third ripeness test on Thursday. We tasted the Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon again Tuesday with my technical team. This was the final stage before the decision was taken.

As in previous years, we will start with the Sauvignon Blanc in the Dispute and Ferbos plots, two of the oldest areas in Fieuzal’s vineyard for white grapes. Picking started on the morning of Wednesday 4th September.

Balances are good with potential alcohol ranging between 12.6% and 13% and acidity of around 4g/l.

At time of writing, the weather forecasts are excellent, which augurs well for the 2019 harvests.

I will keep you updated on a regular basis and am always available to discuss all things oenological.

Best regards,

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

The Makings of Greatness

“Give me the best grapes in the world and… I’ll try”: Emile Peynaud’s reply to a client who wanted to produce the world’s best wine.

At this stage, we are working under optimal conditions. Despite an extremely wet winter and spring – which led to the most aggressive mildew we’ve ever experienced, and which was hard to control this summer and therefore impacting the quantity of our harvest – summer was hot with low temperature variation (similar to 2016, or even 2009).  

However, for the last few days, daytime temperature variation has been particularly high, with lows of just a few degrees in the morning and highs of 30˚C in the afternoon (2010 vintage conditions). This, of course, has an extremely positive impact on the quality of our fruit. We couldn’t have wished for better; these fluctuations allow the vines to absorb water and nutrients in the night and to transpire during the day.

There is a general sense of calm and composure because, with favourable weather conditions, we can harvest each plot and grape variety when we want and without pressure.

At Fieuzal, harvesting of the whites began on the 4thSeptember and ended on the 20thwith a plot of Semillon where we obtained noble aromas characteristic of the south of our region.

The whites are currently fermenting in barrels – some oak and some acacia – which allows us to preserve the intrinsic qualities of each plot and grape type.

I would classify the 2018 whites with two distinct profiles: to begin with they were tight and vivacious (pH 3.2) with alcohol potential varying between 13 and 14 degrees. Then, as harvest went on, the pH rose very slightly but with alcohol potential remaining the same. The wide palette of structural and aromatic qualities already promises excellent opportunities for the Abeille and Fieuzal white blends.

We began harvesting the reds on the 21stSeptember, starting with the Merlots as usual. There is a team of 70 people active at the moment in the Fieuzal vineyards.

The berries are small, rendering little juice, but with superb concentration. Alcohol potential is around 14 degrees, with superb levels of acidity and skins that must be worked with care… That’s as much as I can share with you at this stage! It’s a real pleasure to work on a vintage for which expectations are high and there is great promise.

I’ll be back with more news once the harvest is over.

Thank you for your loyalty.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

Dear all,

What a delight to see the vines flourishing at the start of June! After the misfortunes of 2017, I’ve been delighted to witness nature’s wild force spring back to life over the past few weeks.

Winter was unusually wet, with roughly 600mm of rainfall between December and March (the average is 400mm). This represents more than half a regular year’s rainfall and led us to reduce activity in the vineyard to preserve the structure of our soils. It also delayed the mechanical grinding of the pruned vine-wood. Our 600,000 or so vines were pruned between December and mid-March and, except for an area that was hit particularly hard by the frost, we had no problem obtaining excellent pruned wood.

Coming out of the winter period and after a homogenous bud break between the end of March and the start of April, favourable weather conditions in the second half of April caused the vegetation to break forth with real energy. Cooler, wetter weather in May calmed the growth, offering us some respite to carry out “épamprages” (shoot-thinning) and “ébourgeonnages” (de-budding), essential for reducing surplus vegetation that would lessen the quality of future grapes.

With these two tasks completed, we are beginning the “levages” (trellising) to train the vines to grow in the right direction. This will have an impact on the richness of our fruit. Next will be the “effeuillages” (leaf-thinning) and perhaps some “décompactages” (loosening of the surface soil layer). We might also carry out some green harvesting depending on the fertilisation stage, which takes place during flowering.

We are still in the process of obtaining our Organic Agriculture certification. The 2019 harvest will be our first officially-certified one, but you should know that Fieuzal’s vineyard and environment have been managed with the greatest care and respect.

In terms of our vineyard’s sanitary state, current temperatures and dampness mean that there is constant pressure to control mildew and white rot.

Turning to our wines, today we are releasing 1000 cases of Fieuzal White 2016 to our negociants.

Incredibly pure, this Semillon-Sauvignon blend is the result of a 2016 harvest that I consider to be one of great quality for Fieuzal.

The wines that make up the blend have been aged for 18 months in traditional French oak barrels of 225L, as well as a part in 400L acacia barrels and some in stainless steel. Once the blend was completed, the wine was left to settle for a few weeks in concrete vats before bottling (16th April 2018), seeking to preserve all our previous winemaking efforts.

Pausing for a moment on this important step – the bottling: it’s always a dilemma between my teams (who guarantee safety) and myself (who guarantees quality).

I systematically oppose all chemical or physical treatments of our wines, believing strongly in a minimum of intervention at this moment in the life of our wines. We also only carry out a light filtration before bottling and corking.

The Fieuzal Red 2016 still has several months of barrel ageing ahead of it. It deserves it! With low yields, the vintage is very intense and varietal, necessitating a slightly longer barrel-ageing period than most of our previous vintages.

So, there you have it, some information that I hope will be of interest to our readers, fans and friends. We shall always try to convey to each of you the passion that drives us each day at Fieuzal.  

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

Dear friends of FIEUZAL,

Since acquiring Fieuzal in 2001, the Quinn family’s main priority has always been to ensure Fieuzal become known for making wines of the highest quality.  

As many of you know, the climatic conditions of last spring had a significant impact on our vineyard and the size of the crop.

And whilst we made every effort to minimize the impact of the adverse weather, unfortunately we have decided we are unable to achieve the level of quality we have come to expect.

Therefore, we have decided not to release any 2017 Fieuzal wines into the marketplace.  

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

I couldn’t wait to write to you at the beginning of May but I didn’t dare to before the end of the ‘Frost Saints’ (traditionally the period of colder weather and the last nightly frosts of Spring from 12th to 15th May). I was impatient to share my excitement of seeing our first Cabernets Sauvignons and Petits Verdots planted in 2015 and for which I have great hopes. I would have liked to share with you the excitement I get from my job, my passion for the vines et wine and couldn’t wait to thrill you with a superb but somewhat limited in quantity 2016 vintage at Fieuzal but there was the frost on 27 April 2017 which I will never forget. The frost affected our superb terroir.

I won’t forget the helpless feeling which gripped me, I will never forget the men and women of Fieuzal that morning.

I won’t forget how lucky we are to work for such amazing owners.

It’s also why working in a vineyard is wonderful ; it gives us intense joy and deep pain, that’s the wine maker’s job, it can all hinge on not very much, in fact.

So, this episode over, it  became clear that the quantities for the harvest 2017 were going to be very low. What would the quality be like ?

A fairly long flowering stretched over 4 weeks with wet spells, a dry beginning to the summer, without being too hot, and now we find ourselves at the end of summer which is proving to be rather unsettled with periods of heavy rain.

Starting on the 5th September with the Sauvignons of  "Ferbos", we finished the Fieuzal whites on 13th September with several rows of late Sauvignons in the lieu-dit of "Dispute ". In the meantime, we picked some beautiful Sémillons on the 8th and 13th September.

A lovely surprise, our white juices are well made, look superb and well balanced. Ph between 3.1 and 3.2 and natural degrees don’t go above 12°6.

The juices have a lovely, vibrant colour, lemony and already have a sweetness and freshness which makes me very optimistic for the future wine.

With regard to this quality and due to the quantities, all our batches are fermenting now in barrels ;as always at Fieuzal, we mix the 225L oak barrels and the 400L acacia and oak barrels.

Fermentation is happening at between 16 and 20°C in order to preserve the aromatic potential of our Sauvignon and Semillon juices.

 We will produce about 500 cases of white this year and divide between Fieuzal and l’Abeille blanc. Selection will be tough as the range is tight, as always, without compromise. Only quality counts !

This wet end of September forces us not to delay and we have already picked several rows of Merlots on 13th,14th and 15th of September.

I will let you know what happens next…thanks to each of you sharing in the life of our vineyard.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

A Very Happy New Year

 Dear Readers, I wish you all the best for this New Year !

 At Fieuzal pruning started on 5th December and we should be finished with the 600,000 vines at the château by mid-March.

As you know, we are starting our second year of transition towards organic certification. The vineyard has been run this way for several years now. The whole team is committed to this approach which consists of limiting as much as possible any human or material impact generated by our cultivation of the vines.

On this subject, we have just purchased an electric tractor which I believe goes along with our project of respecting the ecosystem. We will continue to make improvements.

Managing the vineyard in this way allows us to vinify the most authentic grapes possible from our land, by which I mean they bear the characteristics of our location.

The frost gave us a great deal of bother in 2016, however the small amount we did harvest seems to be on the right track!

Tasting the different batches of 2016 reds already shows me that this vintage at Fieuzal will be top notch.

With a style tangibly less concentrated but more elegant than the 2010s, without a doubt due to less-forced extractions, these 2016 wines are unusually uniform. The characteristics which come to mind are freshness, balance, density and depth.

Without going into detail, for the last two years we have tried to adapt our ageing to each grape variety. While our Cabernet Sauvignons and Petit Verdots are still matured in 225L new barrels, our Cabernet Francs and Merlots benefit from larger barrels (400L) and we always think twice before using new wood; we have also proven that maturing all four grape varieties in amphora can have its advantages.

These changes are aimed at bringing out the best characteristics of each grape variety.

The results encourage us to continue towards this “à la carte” ageing.

 Our 2016 whites are still finishing off their barrel ageing, in oak or acacia according to the characteristics of the Sauvignon and Sémillon. Due to the low yields, we have a unique richness at Fieuzal. There is a saltiness to the finish which I love.

Never exuberant in their early years, except perhaps for the 2008, I find that our Fieuzal whites age very well. The 2010, 2011 and 2012 vintages are currently showing very well. I’d give the 2009, 2014 and 2013 a few years more.

 A very Happy New year to you all once again.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

[fieuzalen]

Unexpected 2016 !

Always remain positive! This 2016 vintage is a surprise for me. I am not just talking about Fieuzal but about Bordeaux in general. A quality which developed between June and October and a truly exceptional quantity of  grapes which was not really expected. The first half of 2016 was wet, as I explained in my last message (881mm vs a ten year average of 480mm) but July, August, September and October (to date) turned out to be particularly dry (at most 100mm vs ten year average of 200mm) which explains, in part, some of the characteristics of this vintage.

Here at Fieuzal it's very frustrating because despite the high quality of grapes we are bringing in, the frost at the end of April will deprive us of a good number of cases....In fact, even though the whites seemed to be less affected, perhaps due to a different stage of development, the red vine stocks were more afflicted by this frosty episode. We will see in a few weeks !

This apart, our whites have finished fermenting. As usual, our Sauvignon Blancs and Semillons were fermented at low temperatures to preserve the aromas and freshness. The fermentation was done fairly quickly (4-6 days) either in stainless steel vats or 400 litre acacia barrels. However, having tasted 15 batches of 2016 produced from 10 plots, yesterday I ordered few oak barrels of 400 litres from one of our coopers.  In fact, following the 2015 white Fieuzal tasting, as it is still maturing, I was absolutely convinced by the qualities of this wine and want our future blend of 2016 to benefit from this mix of barrels from different origins. Even though I am not happy with the quantities (I promise I will stop going on about this!) we will not deter from our goal: to produce our white Fieuzal and Abeilles without compromise.

For the reds, we finished the Merlots and the Petits Verdots yesterday evening, and some Cabernet Francs were picked on the Haut-Gardère plateau. The first Merlots which have finished fermenting are quite simply delicious with distinctive characteristics. Some batches are tense, others more generous, with a common feature at this point; a very dark colour. I really enjoyed tasting them yesterday morning. I will talk more of it in my next message but I am developing my approach to ageing in the barrels with new materials and larger barrel sizes.

Please excuse me for not getting back to you sooner, but this is the current situation at Fieuzal. We are going to take a break in the harvesting this evening before starting again with the Cabernet Sauvignons next week. The Indian summer seems to be coming to an end.

Until next time !

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

What a job !

I thought it was time to make contact again, followers of Fieuzal.

In the vineyard, the biggest event was the frost we suffered on the nights of 27th, 28th & 29th April. It will have a serious impact on our 2016 harvest; very frustrating but we need to do some work on the vines because every job completed will have a positive impact on next year's pruning and the long term state of our vine stocks.

As far as the weather goes, the first half of 2016 can be described as wet! Up until the end of May we had 735ml of rainfall (1mm=1L/m2) which is almost the 10 year average rainfall (800ml) for the whole year at Fieuzal. This will be, without a doubt, very good for the soil and our water reserves, but will also bring about an unusually high risk of disease for this time of year. However, for the last few days the weather seems to have become milder. From the point of view of leaf growth, flowering is coming along very nicely.

Besides the day to day news, I would like to announce that, for a little over a year now, we have been in the process of changing Fieuzal to a concept which I would at this stage describe as "wine farm". At the instigation of our Estate Manager, Christophe Rousseau, and his team of vignerons the idea is to reinforce the idea of terroir over the long term, albeit a very broad spectrum. We want to involve men and women living and working at and around Fieuzal through our role as wine makers. This year, we are committing to convert to Organic Agriculture. In parallel, we are beginning to pur in place the foundations for Biodynamic Agriculture across the entirety of Fieuzal's vineyards. We're all behind this new move and the tests done over the last 5 years also agree.

This approach to our work requires daily reflexion on managing the plants and the soil which nourishes them.  The aim of all this is to produce increasingly balanced grapes. We have established a firm and unique link with our direct neighbours in order to explain the management of our vineyard. Our staff has never been so involved. A henhouse was introduced a few weeks ago in order to recreate "The Farm" atmosphere. A vegetable garden, created a year ago, provides for the Fieuzal kitchen and sometimes distributes fresh and healthy produce to our staff. Finally, 5 beehives have been producing honey for the last 6 years. We still have more ideas...Fieuzal is really coming to life !

In the winery our 2015 reds and whites are aging in barrels; the reds are delicate, fine and delicious right now while the whites, very tense and discreet, will bring us some pleasant surprises. In a few weeks we will bottle our 3000 cases of white Abeille 2015. Next will follow the red Fieuzal 2014; a surprise awaits our Fieuzal followers with a new bottle from 2014 onwards...in a few days I will give you more information on this. Patience...

And thank you for your attention and loyalty to our wines.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker.

[fieuzalen]

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

[fieuzalen]

It's going well!

We did well to wait, after all; it's the question which most of us ask ourselves around this time and I asked it last week, and even the week before, a number of times. Harvesting each parcel precisely at optimum maturity is a perilous exercise, above all mobilizing our pickers.

Since my last note two weeks ago, due to some heavy rainfall and the weather forecast I wasn’t sure that we would be able to pick our Cabernets (Francs and Sauvignons) at their optimum maturity. Then the weather improved again from 7th October with cool nights and hot days; terrific!

We finished the Merlots on 1st October, picked several plots of Cabernets on 6th and 7th and stopped. We start again today for 4 or 5 days and then we will have finished this 2015 harvest. It's all systems go and I am already excited by the idea of working these vats of Cabernets which will, no doubt, blend fantastically with the Merlots and the few Cabernet Francs we have here at Fieuzal.

The first vat of Merlots was run off after 25 days of maceration. My tasting promises top quality across the board.  The question I am asked most often..."what other vintage does 2015 most resemble?" What do I know, and what does it matter?  2015 will make a great and beautiful wine like only Bordeaux knows how; not opulent but balanced with freshness, class and the ability to age well...I am almost certain!

I will get back to you once the wines are in barrel!

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker 🍀

[fieuzalen]

So intense!

Unlike the general feeling of jubilation at the beginning of September, when everything seemed easy, the change in the weather these last few days has taught us that nothing is ever certain.

Our whites have already finished their fermentation and now they are going to age on the lees which we stir up each day, in barrels or vats. The first tasting on Friday highlighted the very delicate quality of our Sauvignons, harvested between 2nd and 5th September. I prefer fresh acidity and subtle aromas at this stage rather than full-on, exotic aromas.

As far as the Merlots are concerned, we started on 16th September and stopped last Wednesday. We will start again on Tuesday for 3 days and then we will wait for the Cabernets to finish ripening.

Two thirds of our Merlots are in vats and looking very promising. Hand sorting this year is a necessary finishing touch but not absolutely essential when the grapes are this good. For several days, the cold maceration allows us to bring out the colour in the skins which will have to take hold in the coming days during the alcoholic fermentation. During the pumping over, the aromas of black fruit dominate - blackberry, blueberry, blackcurrant and, of course, grape ! It's a joy to lean over the vats during that time! I am very optimistic for the future quality of these selections.

However, since my last message, we have had a very wet time of it, with about 20mm of heavy rainfall and a significant dip in temperature compared with the beginning of September. Nothing too serious, on the contrary, but we had to be very vigilant about the state of health of the grapes. The forecast is good for the moment. That won't change anything for our Merlots which will be lovely but there's still one or even two weeks before our Cabernet Sauvignons are mature and so there is a long way to go !

So I'm off, back to work.....

Happy reading.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

What a beautiful week!

We’re here! I can confirm that after several days on the whites we are very enthusiastic about the quality, I should say, many qualities of this vintage to come.

As is tradition at Fieuzal we started on the 2nd September with a parcel of young Sauvignon, then we carried on with patches of Sauvignon and finally a few Semillon vines on Friday afternoon. Well, the balance is looking very good so far; degrees varying between 12.6 and 13.4%, with Ph varying between 3.1 and 3.2. It's wonderful to drink the juice and I think it will be as much of a pleasure to drink our wines. However, even though the number of bunches per vine are what we expected, we’re getting less juice than we had calculated.  That is what a “dry" July does for you! Some 40 pickers have joined us for the harvest of whites. The grapes, once they’re picked and put into small trays (cagettes) are taken to the cellar where they are pressed or cooled down in a cold room depending on their temperature. It is always better to vinify cold juice (14-15°C). Next, a light decanting into small vats, still at low temperature, allows us to clarify the juice slightly. Now we’re waiting for the fermentation to start before putting the different batches into barrels. From the 9 parcels of Sauvignon we have at Fieuzal, 15 batches with different qualities and balance have been selected. Today we will finish the Sauvignons and the Semillons. In view of the very favorable weather at the moment I decided not to make a break in the picking because I prefer to work towards balanced acidity levels rather than letting the degrees get too high.

The next instalment very soon!

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker

[fieuzalen]

A promising early vintage...

A new challenge awaits us in the next few days. The 2015 grapes, red and white, give the impression that we are dealing with high quality fruit this year.

At Fieuzal, the vegetative cycle took place in favourable weather conditions, with no particular problems with the vines and only a limited amount of intervention needed...

From bud break in mid-April to flowering at the end of May for the first of the Merlots, the conditions were ideal. In so far as the plants were able to grow unhindered with rainfall of 180mm as opposed to the ten year average of 300 mm on our vineyard.  As a reminder, in the same period back in 2010 we recorded 214mm & 275 in 2009 compared with 401mm in 2013.  There followed a month of July that I’d call dry (43mm vs 60mm ten year average).

I have read and heard talk of stress, shut down and there was even a question of irrigation at the end of July!!!! Nothing alarming for us this year, though, some slow down here and there with the young vines (<5 years) but nothing that we haven’t already seen in the rest of the vineyard in previous years. Without a doubt the low rainfall at the end of winter and into spring gave the impression of slowed growth like I’d seen in 2003. As it happens, the way the soil is worked at Fieuzal allows our vines to establish deep root systems enabling them to survive several heatwaves, as was the case in July.  And then August was wet, just enough to fine tune the maturing process with a rainfall above the ten year average (90 vs 57mm).

Leaves were picked in most of the vineyard, and a bit of bunch thinning helped to "decompact" the young vines. The main point of this last job was to keep things clean and healthy rather than controlling quantities, even though we have the number of bunches we expected, the berries themselves are light. For example, the measurements we got on Monday for 100 grapes of Sauvignon Blanc weighed 120g vs an average of 180g.

As I bring you my first impressions of this 2015 vintage, a heat wave is predicted for the next 10 days with cool nights. Everything is set for some pretty good stuff. We will begin harvesting our white grapes next week, starting like every year, with the Sauvignons...I can't wait!

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker