Wine Traditions ltd
The year 2020 was again a very beautiful and very high quality year for us with an early harvest, which started on August 21. The wines of Villenauxe-la-Grande are powerful, with aromas of apple, pear, round in the mouth and also fresh. Bethon wines have a lemony, grapefruit aroma, with a lovely freshness.
The 2020 wine season will have been the earliest of my career with the harvest on August 25th. And also the season with the least presence of mildew and oidium, never have we sprayed so little fungicides even though we are now biodynamic. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes were magnificent. No botrytis at all. And despite the drought a very nice balance of acidity. This naturally acheived quality in the vines encourages us to continue on towards the most natural vinification possible. The least possible of sulphites, if any at all. Probably no fining and no filtration. The tastings so far of the young 2020 wines are very positive. The nose is still closed or even reduced, but this bodes very well for the natural clarification phase which begins with the winter cold that arrives these days (February). Blending tasting is scheduled for April and bottling in May.
Each new vintage is an occasion to write a new page in history and above all to understand new winegrowing conditions in the changing climate.
The 2019 winegrowing season was once again quite singular : the erratic climactic cycles meant we had to organize ourselves around spring frosts, sudden unusual cold temperatures at budding and then heat waves during the summer. These changes in weather are recent and their consequences are unknown ; with little hindsight, an evolution is in progress. Each year we have to review the new imprint and rethink our production strategy.
The musts are very aromatic, and stimulate the taste buds. They have fruit, balance, concentration with a touch of liveliness, everything is there.
The fragrances emanating in the winery are so pleasant, we can’t wait to taste the first wines. Nature has given us the best, now it is up to us to magnify the fruit of our labor.
The Chardonnay has quite particular aromas : complexity, fruitiness, while the Pinot Noir and Meunier are powerfull and elegant.
The 3 forgotten varieties (Arbanne, Petit Meslier et Fromentot) are very expressive. Their specific aromatic profiles are complementary : they combine freshness, balance, generosity and finesse. The production of the Cuvée Les Goulats remains very limited [1,000 bottles approximately / year]
In the end, the cuvées will be a reflection of the winemaker, his passion and his emotion. To that add patience to discover an acomplished wine…..
Now it is time that everyone takes ownership of their own Terroir and takes responsibilty and makes decisions to maintain productive vineyards, and bring the quality of production to the highest level. It is our credo and we consistantly pursue this objective. On this note, we have the pleasure to announce that Henry, our second son, has taken his place at the winery and that he has come to aprehend Benoist’s savoir-faire after his wine-growing/making studies in Alsace and 2 years of profesional experience outside of our domaine.
The year was complicated weather-wise.
After a hot winter (2 weeks at 20°C in February) the vines started budding early.
The the cool weather at the end of April and beginning of May (3to 4°C in the mornings), caused a serious delay of vegitation. The after several rainstorms, dry weather arrived at the end of spring and continued through summer.
The beginning of the growing season was marked by a serious threat of mildiou (mildew), which, however, was quite easily resolved by the return of good weather.
Following, weather conducive to oïdium (powdery mildew) set in, conditions confirmed at the end of June / beginning of July when disease attacked the grapes.
There were three episodes of heatwaves, in June, July and August. The July heatwave was particularly intense, we measured 56°C (132°F) in full sun on July 24th, with no wind. This resulted in “dégâts d’échaudage” (scorched and dried grapes) , up to 30% in some parcels.
The return of rains during the 2nd fortnight of August allowed grapes to grow, and kept the leaves (suffering from hydric stress) from falling.
In the end, the yields are correct and the wines seem to be of excellent quality.
While the fermentations are still going on, aromas coming from the cellar are wonderful, the wines seem to possess a lovely freshness.
Very lovely year in 2018, no problems with disease.
Harvests at the end of August with magnificent grapes, 11°
The Chardonnayare very perfumed, yellow fruits, powerful and very refined……also honey and brioche and with good acidity
The blendings will be made with wines from 2016 and 2017
Simply exceptional!
The 2018 harvest marks the culmination of a growing year that hit the ground running! A rainy winter, an early spring and a particularly hot summer resulted in an early and hasty harvest on the 7th of september, a date on which we are usually still in the midst of preparations……..
The perspective wines could be magnificent ; however we must remain humble and wait a few months until we taste the “vins claires”. We will be looking for, as always, those that are best for blending, making no compromises on quality. It will be fascinating. The 2018 wines will be bottled at the end of April 2019.
Certified “Haute Valeur” :
Environmentally, we are very vigilant in our course in this direction . We are evolving further and further towards a viticulture of precision, a profound agronomic and environmental change, a mutation. And so, in this trajectory, we are in the best of circumstances, able to draw on our experience and intuition.
You already know that 2016 was a very complicated growing year for us and resulted in a very small harvest. We harvested the entire crop in 3 days and therefore all parcels were fermented together in a single (small) vat.
Which means the blending is done. The nice surprise is that this completed wine is now tasting fruity and very appealing . 2017 will be very, very, very rare, but undoubtedly very interesting.
Trying to put this [difficult vintage] out of our minds a bit now, we are working on the release of the 2008 vintage, which is showing quite fruity and youthful despite having rested 8 years in the cellar.
About the 2015 vintage at my domaine.
The harvest potential was average (in quantity) . Spring was wet and warm. Budbreak occurred slightly earlier than usual (between the 12th and 16th of april). Following, the first 3 weeks of May were very cold in the mornings (3 to 4°C) with some resulting “Filage” (unformed flowers). The vine is stressed and sheds its bud. Often the second bud on the branch transforms into a “vrille” or tendril, aborting its flowering. On certain vines many buds did not flower, whence the only average quantity potential (certain vines had ten bunches, others 3-4, some none at all)
Following the very dry summer (3 and ½ months without rain), the berries did not grow as large as usual. (more skin than juice). The heterogeneity of the number of bunches per vine occasioned a hetergeneity of maturity, therfore difficult to measure the evolution of the maturity and to determine a precise harvest date.
The rains returned beginning of September. The first rains were saving ones, they rehydrated the vines, favorising the greening of the leaves (thus photosynthesis) and the berries finally swelled.
Yes, but, with close to 120mm of rain in September, this posed a problem. The berries swelled, the degrees became higher, then to the excessive, the aromas became diluted, the yields rose, degrees continued to increase but acidities dropped!!!
After alcoholic fermentation, the wines were fruity but lacking structure, freshnes, tension. I hestitated for a while, but in the end I decided not to let the wines go through malolactic fermentation, I believe I was right to do so. So I assembled my wines rather quickly, then made a sterile filtration using a ceramic tangential filter in order to block the FML (malolactic fermentation) without having to increase the sulfur dosage. It is the first time I have vinified without FML.
It remains now to bottle the wines (the 22 and 23 of February for me) and to wait 3 to 4 years before tasting and see if I was right.
Thierry and 2 oenologues just tasted the wines from this last vintage 2015, here are some reflexions
The 2015 Chardonnay wines are already quite open, quite mature, still with lovely freshness. The assemblage with wines from 2013 and 2014 will result in well balanced wines. We find dominant white fruits.
The blending will possibly be made according this schema (this is only a forecast!!!)
BSA – 60% reserve wine – 40% of 2015
Cuvée Grand Reserve – 40% reserve wine – 60% of 2015
The red wine for the blending of the Rosé is superb, with morello cherries.
We will not make Veilles Vignes 2015, it would age quickly, risking not to last past 4 or 5 years.
…….my impressions on the last harvest
If I must choose a single word to describe it, I would happily say: ideal.
Indeed, all during 2015, from the season of pruning on through harvest, the weather was always on our side. The vines developed normally and we had no stress from risk of frost or hail, or with any of the diverse blights (mildew, oidium, insects…. ). Conditions for work in the vineyard were thus facilitated and more comfortable, notably for ploughing the soils. A slightly drier summer than usual resulted in very ripe and very healthy grapes, absolutely zero botrytis
Harvest took place under sunny skies starting September 7. 60 people came to participate in this familial ritual.
4 months after these wonderful harvests, with our first tastings of the vins clairs we find very forward aromas of citrus and white fruit on the pinots. The textures of the 2015s seem rich with lovely present acidity, even with finished malos. All seem that they will come together to make a very pretty vintage.
We will organise tastings for the blending at the beginning of March.
Concerning the latest vintage
Weather:
After an non-existant 2013-1014 winter (of warm temperatures), the spring was particularly wet with a “summer-like” period in May.
Summer was chaotic, with alternating periods of cool and hot, and a lot of precipitation especially in August.
Vineyard:
After an earlier-than-usual bud-break (a result of the warm winter), the vines developped irregularly, subject to the hasards of weather conditions.
There was a bit of good weather during flowering which was a salvation for yield potentials. The frequent rains in August swelled the grapes (and thus the average weight of the grapes) guaranteeing a large crop .
Unfortunately, a concentration of sugars in the grapes did not follow.
The sun returned in September, further ripening and increasing alcohol potential , but at the same time caused the grapes to wilt, which resulted in acetic spoilage of individual grapes, bunches or even the entire vine.
The quality of the vintage thus compromised.
We began harvest on September 9th. The grapes were quite fragile and required a lot of attention and selection. The wines also are equally fragile, a bit soft and diluted.
2014 will serve well in blending with reserve wines , but 2014 will not be a “vintage” year for us.