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2013 vintage at Château La Louvière: retrospective and first impressions ...
Coinciding with the introduction of a new winemaking philosophy worthy of a classified growth, the 2013 vintage at Château La Louvière is truly exceptional.
Rigorous selections...
Major efforts were undertaken to enable this standard bearer of the Pessac-Léognan appellation to achieve its full potential. Taking place over several months, these started out in the vineyard and included such operations as meticulous green pruning (leaf thinning and removing the side shoots to enhance ripening).
Furthermore, sizeable investments were made over the past several months in the cellars. Handpicking is now the rule, making sure to harvest each individual plot at the ideal moment.In addition, special care is taken in the vineyard and cellars in sorting the grapes, retaining only those in perfect condition. The small crates used to transport the grapes are now automatically emptied and cleaned.
The grapes are then put onto a sorting table where we eliminate any that are less than perfect. Another innovation consists of destemming with a "cube". The grapes are subjected to vibrations that can be adjusted to particular lots. The grapes and stems are then funnelled into a sorting system that removes fruit that is damaged or not fully formed, as well as any remaining stems. At the end of this operation, only whole berries are left.
These are meticulously sorted yet another time with a Tribaie automatic density sorting machine that retains on the ripest (sweetest) grapes.
Seeing as the raw material at this stage is of the highest quality, winemaking needs to be equally meticulous, especially with regard to extraction. It is important for this to occur at the beginning of fermentation rather than after to avoid extracting hard tannin.
A carefully maintained ratio of marc to juice, with systematic saignées (bleeding), enabled us to obtain rather rich (as per the index of total polyphenols and level of anthocyanins) wines in 2013. This is especially true for the Cabernet Sauvignon wines, which are unquestionably successful in this vintage at Château La Louvière.
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As for the white wines, the grapes took full advantage of the sunshine in the month of August. Their quality does not seem to have suffered from the vagaries of the weather, and our first impressions show the wines to be very aromatic, with a great deal of freshness. They will provide much pleasure, and undoubtedly be well received in the coming months. |
Michel Rolland : a new collaboration...
| Will the 2013 vintage be a great year for Château La Louvière? Once again, we must say the answer is yes! This year also marked the beginning of a new collaboration between Vignobles André Lurton and the world famous oenologist, Michel Rolland.He now follows the red wines at both estates : Château La Louvière and Château Couhins-Lurton. He already provided precious advice for the blending of the 2012 vintage. For the 2013 vintage, this collaboration was extended to all levels of the production of the vineyard to the winery. As for our white wines, these will continue to benefit from the advice of another famous figure in Bordeaux, Denis Dubourdieu, internationally recognised for his expertise in this field... |
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Date of the start the 2013 harvest at Château La Louvière:
• White harvest: 16rd September 2013.
• Red harvest: 28th September 2013.
Some pictures of the harvest ...
Some weather data from Château La Louvière in 2013. (comparison with 2012)
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