Gavin Quinney's Bordeaux Blog » Cabernet

Hail in Bordeaux – the video

GQ — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:34:59 +0000

Never mind the recession, the strong euro, the weak pound, increased duty costs and global over-supply of cheap, industrial wine. It’s back to nature, and sometimes nature can be cruel.

Thanks for watching. You can leave a comment here, or join the debate (with scores of comments on this video) over at blog.bauduc.com.

Or help fill the coffers of our ‘in search of quality grapes’ fund by placing an order – click the red Chateau Bauduc button at the top of the page, and head for ‘Buy wine’.

Red: The Good, The Bad and The Deadly

GQ — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:49:48 +0000

We’re still hanging in there, or rather the red grapes are. The forecast, although constantly changing, is in our favour. After some rain yesterday, more rain now and we’d have to harvest like crazy. Worse still, some of the grapes aren’t quite there yet and the days – and hours of sunlight – are getting shorter.

Our vines look great, especially compared to one of our next door neighbours in the Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, who must have taken the summer off (left). Them grapes are sure gonna be no darn good.

Will our lovely grapes ripen before the ugly rot gets there first (right)?

Reds: Hanging in There

GQ — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:55:14 +0000

It has been clear from the start that this was going to be a late harvest. So the vineyard work that we carried out earlier in the season has been crucial and as a result, thankfully, our vines and red grapes look really healthy as they creep closer towards ripeness. The photo, taken yesterday, shows the leaves all green and the grapes free of rot. For the time being, at least.

In particular, effective spraying against the threat of mildew and rot was important, and the effeuillage in July, or pulling the leaves away from the fruit zone by hand, has kept the bunches well-aired. If they had been encased in a damp canopy of leaves at this stage, the grapes would have little chance of ripening and rot could develop quickly. We nearly bankrupted ourselves with the cost of it all – we had a team of a dozen or so experienced seasonal workers at times (left) – but it now feels like it was a risk worth taking.

This morning was cold and drizzly, so we need the weather to cheer up.

October 1: First Red Grapes – for Rosé

GQ — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:35:40 +0000

Not a single red grape harvested in September at Bauduc. Not one – that must be the first time ever. Then again, there are merlot grapes on the vine up the road at Pétrus in Pomerol, so it’s not that unusual in the circumstances. Our merlot usually ripens a week or so after the plateau of Pomerol. This gives me a quick insight – pop up to Pomerol and whatever the top guys are doing, mark next week’s diary accordingly.

This year, we’ve decided to make a cracking rosé. Not that we have deliberately set out to make un vin rosé ordinaire in the past, it’s just that we haven’t focused enough on the style and that’s been reflected in the results.

You’ll often find that a Bordeaux rosé is a by-product of making red wine. Once you’ve put your red grapes in the tank, you run off some juice the following day to concentrate what’s left (i.e. less juice to macerate and ferment with the skins). You then cool ferment the ‘left over’ pale juice just as you would a white wine – without the skins. Bingo: rosé.

The problem with this method – called saignée, or blooded – is that you are using juice from grapes that you’re making into red wine. The grapes need to be fully ripe for red but for rosé, we need a bit less alcohol and a bit more acidity – we want juice from grapes that aren’t too ripe.

So this year, we’re making a rosé from specially selected blocks – merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignons. The first to ripen is the merlot so it was a 4am start again yesterday to bring it in as fresh and cold as possible. Just like the white we want to avoid oxidation. And then we pressed the grapes straight away to avoid tannins (pressurage direct), which we hope will bring great results. We’ll have to wait and see.