Easter came and went, so did the primeur introduction week. A flock of professionals from around the world endured the cold, wind and rain to visit our vineyards and especially our winery to be introduced to the already mythical 2009 vintage!
During blending and barrelling operations at the end of the year we already thought this would be ‘great wine’. Now we know for sure!
Everyone could make their own opinions but whatever the approaches and preferences, they were reluctant to spit wine which will soon provide pleasure and for a very long time. All it needs now is a few months to develop and put on its new attire. Our Talbot will then reveal itself as a grand wine, velvety and incredibly long on the palate with a peacock-tail-like finish. Truly magnificent!
It is a reinterpretation of 2005, with softer tannins. Both vintages enjoy the same comments about ageing capacity (some described 2005 as eternal) but I believe 2009 will equal other exceptional vintages, maybe even 1945 which was tasted a few days ago during the primeur introduction week to the Bordeaux trade.
Talking about the new born wine is enjoyable yet the future has been prepared outside since November and is awakening in the swelling buds. It went through the abundant autumn rains that refilled the ground waters then through the winter’s bitter cold until early March. It snowed one morning only but we had not experienced such low temperatures in 25 years.
The vineyard people had to work with numbed fingers and faces reddened by the North-East wind but completed the work, only slowlier. The trellis posts were set (we call them ‘carrasson’ in Bordeaux), and the ‘prix-faits’ (vineyard patches allotted to each viticulturist every year) were pruned in accordance with good practices, which is the one and only way to high quality fruit and the great wines expected when nature is willing to give and not to withdraw!
It is also time again for ploughing. Balks are essential as they determine the ‘guéret’ (depth of loose soil) for the coming campaign. This has been going on well so far as the frost prevented winter flora to develop and allowed the earth to swell up. Everyone working in the vineyards is optimistic but still dreads the rare yet possible frost episodes that might occur in early May in our appellation.
This year the bleeding of the vines came late but abundant on some patches which had been pruned late. It is interesting to taste the raw sap that comes up from the soil, our terroir, with salinity levels varying from one patch to another.
Monsieur Hostein, April 7th 2010
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The ‘aucat’, the traditional meal we have on the last day of harvesting, is just a fading memory and the still wines lie in barrels. The splendid 2009 will now mature away from the climate vagaries, in the good hands of Talbot’s cellar team and the quiet shade of the winery. No Iberian or Lusitanian loud voices, no crowds hectically moving about there, everything is moderation and balance. Passing time only will allow our new-born to grow up and reveal itself as we foresee it, that is the best of our latest vintages and possibly a masterpiece.
Outside, things have been quite different. The aucat haze cleared away within a couple of days and the vineyard’s picture has been edited. I mean we counted all the dead or missing stocks then dug holes with a mechanical screw for replanting.
In spring new stocks will replace the ones that shed all their sap to contribute to so many vintages, sometimes over sixty as the oldest patches were planted in 1930. This enables us to perpetuate our vines and maintain the old stocks for as long as possible, because these hold the concentrated sap caused by natural vigour regulation which ensures quality.
All these operations were carried out under the benign autumn rains (250 mm in November). Ground waters have built up again and the ditches around Talbot are flowing and draining our plateau vineyard.
Winter pruning started on November 23th. The leaves had fallen off a week before, all yellow and dry. They will feed the trunks and allow the vineyard to go green again in spring. Pruning is the prime step as the viticulturists' power to bring life to the vineyard lies in their pruning knives.
Producing is good and easy. Making each stock yield the exact amount of fruit so that it will express its potential to the fullest over the years is art. This is what I believe in and not in the 'let's-produce-what-we-can-and-thin-out-to-regulate' attitude. I am disappointed in that way of working which is close to an industrial approach and has very little in common with that of a man attached to his patch of land and seeking to achieve terroir expression and wine personality.
Pruning is now over, the team is motivated and the stocks are healthy and the right size in the whole. We have potential here.
As for the weather, it has just changed and the 'Saint-Julien Moscow' has come. This cold and dreadful North-East wind gets damp as it sweeps across the magnificent estuary bordering Talbot, making your face and nose red and numb, cutting your ears. It is winter time. It is has to be. The seasons alternation is necessary for the vineyard to thrive again in April, when the viticulturists take off their parkas and fur-lined boots and let in the cheerful, hopeful, invigorating feeling brought about by spring.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy these peaceful moments to appreciate the qualities of our wines. They were born from nature and men's determination.
Monsieur Hostein, December 14th 2009.
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Vintage 2009 will undoubtedly show grand ageing capacity. From the berries havested to the musts then the wines elaborated, we have recorded analytical data rarely achieved in the past. The balance reaches such heights that we even indulge in dizzy jubilation sometimes.
Malolactic fermentation is slowly completing, helped by rather mild external temperatures. Technology would allow to warm up or maintain the wines at given temperature levels but nothing compares to natural climate conditions. Experience has proved that running off often causes malolactic fermentation to either start off or stop.
Now how is the balance between sugar, acidity and tannin achieved?
Once more the weather conditions greatly impacted the vines and fruit for which we can only be grateful as until mid-July I would not have bet on the potential quality. March was sunny and dry on the whole but the rest of the campaign went on through rain (April: 104mm; May: 64mm) with occasional storms that might have caused great damage.
Flowering was the one and only but highly positive event in June, wedged between two wet and cold periods. It took only five days from flowering to fruit set which was a sign of fast ripening and let us hope for facilitated harvesting.
We would later see that combined with fabulous weather in September this would enable us to organize first rate grape picking. October was pretty much the same and we finished harvesting on 13th. We had no trouble managing up to 195 grape-pickers this year and the teams parted with a smile at mid-October.
The first wines we ran off display strong body and flavours and at this stage of elaborating the new Talbot tasting the cabernet sauvignon from the middle plateau is quite challenging. It is not easy to compare 2009 with previous vintages at the moment (mid-November), yet it reminds me of the 95’s suave quality and outstanding tannin fullness of the 96, a vintage with great ageing potential.
Harvest schedule:
September 8th to 10th : we picked the fragrant white sauvignon and slightly musky Semillon.
September 24th - 25th : the smaller team picked the younger merlot.
September 28th to 30th : 195 grape-pickers brought in the premium merlot.
October 5th – 9th : the larger team picked the cabernet sauvignon.
October 12th - 13th : we finished picking the cabernet sauvignon at Lalande.
Rainfall amounts:
January: 119 mm
February: 30 mm
March: 37.5 mm
April: 104.5 mm
May: 64.5 mm
June: 46 mm
July: 67.5 mm
August: 10 mm
September: 38.5 mm
October: 28 mm
Noteworthy dates:
Mid flowering at Talbot for merlot: June 2nd 2009
112 days later (technological ripeness alleged date): September 21st 2009
Monsieur Hostein, November 10th 2009
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A few weeks have already gone by since our last conversation.
Our work being cyclical, one should remember what a vintage consists of, when it is worth being borne.
On the eve of harvesting two major elements will probably determine the definition of the 2009 wines.
- The warm and sunny weather of early June allowed prompt and homogenous vine blossom.
- The warm temperatures in daytime and cool temperatures at night persisted throughout August which created healthy conditions for quick veraison.
Both elements are linked of course as the latter is the consequence of the former.
No more thoughts for the disturbances that kept coming in from the ocean during spring and early summer. We no longer fear a third difficult vintage in terms of fruit maturity and overall consistency which would have compelled us to dramatic choices at the time of harvesting.
No more thoughts for the wild grasses that thrive and compete with the vines whenever the climate becomes even so slightly moist in our vineyards where only man and ploughing implements are allowed to painstakingly keep them under control.
No more thoughts for the mildew that devours the young leaves and even the mannas if not fought down without delay!
Although pessimistic by nature, wine growers will promptly forget daily hardship and their moods will be as radiant as an anticyclone in Azores when analyzing the first samples on the eve of harvesting and seeing how promising good acidity and sugar levels are.
Rivers of acidic adrenaline rushed through our veins but today the sight of the vineyards displaying generous dark blue bunches of grapes already building up sugar levels is like a soothing glamorous balm that leaves us hoping for long September days and in no haste to pick the fruit.
The quality of the grape pickers’ work remains the sole unknown element. We expect them to be full of energy and stamina, and with a healthy tan. In any case they can rely on expert management from the entire staff who are longing to convert the try nature has already scored.
Monsieur Hostein, September 7th 2009
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It’s Friday afternoon on May 15th and for the first time in 10 days pale glimpses of sunshine are breaking through huge dark looming clouds.
We have experienced various climate changes since the end of winter. Budburst was rather slow with cold but dry weather. Then generous sunshine for 3 weeks in a row allowed for good ploughing conditions.
The balks are now ready and the soils display their neat pebbles on the surface. While it plagued many a domain throughout the Bordeaux region hail has spared Talbot so far and as opposed to last year the « Saints of Ice » days occurring on May 11th, 12th and 13th did not cripple our white varietals’ potential.
The vineyards are now coloroured in too light a shade of green to my taste and a fierce battle has started. The combined accumulation of hourly degrees and humidity is just what mildew needs to spread it’s hideous oily face on the young helpless leaves.
We have no other choice but spraying. Drivers and tractors are racing against the cryptogamic threat for the third consecutive year. These are critical moments but the will of those who live by the vines to protect them often prevailed in the past.
Also fighting are all the little hands working on the « watershoots » since early May. The operation consists in cutting off all unnecessary shoots from every single stock which enables us to control plant vigour, prepare next winter pruning and ensure vine stock durability. These soft young shoots are potential ladders for mildew which first sprouts from the ground then colonizes the plant with contaminating rains.
As you can see May is a crucial period as the plant starts shooting and faces so many dangers. In the end our main and mightiest ally will be the sun and we expect it to shine onto the vineyards soon, bringing healthy colours to the leaves and promises for September.
Christian Hostein - May 15th,2009
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This year has gotten off to a cold start, with severe conditions for winter pruning for the month of January 2009. Conditions did a turnaround at month’s end; the wind blew fiercely the 24th.Once again, only the Chateau’s park suffered. At 11 in the morning of the 25th the two-hundred-year-old cedar fell heavily. This witness to so many events now lies horizontal, and since we cannot make barrels with its wood, we are thinking of bringing it back to life in the form of furniture for the reception room.
February was calmer. Its below-average temperatures allowed steady work. In the fields pruning is now being followed up by trimming and trellis inspection, which are required conditions for proper bending; vines are creepers that need to be tamed.
It will produce its best only under constraint.
Christian Hostein - February 19th,2009
