This week we finished the Cabernet Sauvignon and with it the entire harvest at Latour. At 7.30pm on Monday 26th September the last grapes were picked, packed and sent back to the Chateau. After 15 solid days of picking, the team had managed to harvest the entire 2011 crop without a break, and there were exhausted smiles all over the fields. I imagine that not only was this one of the earliest harvest but also one of the quickest.
A tired and sun-tanned picker on the final day
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The next day Ben and I made the short trip up the road to Lynch Bages. At Lynch we were invited to take the tour to see the wine making process, and to learn some of its history. This was an interesting experience and was helped by the fact that Lynch Bages is one of the only châteaux still to have its old vat rooms filled with huge wooden fermentation vats and all the old tools of the trade, now a museum. To see how much more precise and technical winemaking has become recently shows how the quality of Bordeaux wines has gone up so much in general. With the safety of all the data the winemaker has at hand now, they can assure a perfect fermentation for the wine, whereas previously the temperature was controlled by fires and water soaked mattresses! After the tour we met once again with Jean-Charles Cazes, who was kind enough to take time out of one of the busiest days of his year to show us how Lynch is further pushing the technology. He tells us that he thinks that further advancements can be made and shows us the two different machines he is using to de-stem the grapes. By running tests on two machines he is seeing which produces the best grape selection and will then choose the right machine for his wine. Finally we are given the chance to taste Merlot directly from the vat as it had just finished the first stage of fermentation – an entirely new experience for both of us. The wine is full and round, evidently very fruity, quite hot still at this stage and with marked acidity – but this is like the ultrasound of a baby Lynch, we are still a very long way from the birth of this wine, with malolactic fermentation, blending, oak ageing and bottling all to come. From Lynch we went to Latour to enjoy a very special get-together.
Thomas Parker hands over the last cajette of the harvest...
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Each year to celebrate the end of the harvest, Latour holds .."La Gerbaude"...a big party for everyone involved during the vendanges in the vineyards and in the winery. We arrived just before lunch and joined the queue of pickers and carriers waiting to pick up their wine which they had earned from contributing to this year's vintage. We were very kindly given a bottle of Latour Grand Vin 1994 and Forts de Latour 1998 each (a pretty generous gift, thank you!); suddenly our shoulders weren't hurting as much. We then headed inside to the room where we had eaten all our meals during the harvest. Everyone was in a great mood and we had only just finished our first glass of Pauillac 1997 when very loud French dance music started coming from the huge speakers in the corner of the room. In less than a minute, half the room was out of their seats dancing with some managing to find room to climb up and start dancing on the tables... not what we had expected! As the dancing away from the tables went up a level, so did the wine on the table as Forts de Latour 1991 appeared.
After eating our main course and joining in with the Conga line, we sat down slightly exhausted where Latour Grand Vin 1978 was waiting for us. Concentrated, tannic and rounded with plenty of dark fruit, it really was singing, although not as loudly as the rest of the room. More dancing followed the meal as the fantastic atmosphere continued and we eventually departed with fond final memories of the vendanges.
Lunch wines at the Gerbaude
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On Thursday evening we headed out for our own "end of the harvest celebration dinner". We were back at the Cafe Lavinal in Bages where we had eaten with Jean-Charles Cazes the week before. With the physical exercise of the harvest now over, we wanted to go for the healthier option – so we both had foie gras, confit de canard and a Chocolate Selection (low fat of course). With us we took the Eglise Clinet 1998 that we mentioned in our blog on Denis Durantou. Over dinner we discussed the long and tiring harvest, and how happy we were to have been involved in the very first stages of the winemaking process. We started our evening with 2008 Trimbach Gewürztraminer, which was a fresh and fruity start to the evening. The aromas and flavours of lychees and rosewater, and warm finish from the moderate alcohol were enjoyable and went with our starters, though perhaps a little more acidity would have better cut through the food.
The magnificent L'Eglise Clinet 1998
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The duck for main course was delicious but we were both in awe of the Eglise Clinet. It was drinking really well at 13 years old, and the aromas leapt out of the glass. A combination of wild herbs and flowers melded with leather and a slight animal note, still backed by dark cassis. The palate was still very concentrated, but the tannins were soft and round. The flavour profile followed from the nose, and the concentration followed through to a long finish of fresh vanilla pod, leather and black cherries. The softened tannins meant that the finish was wonderfully rich without being at all overripe (the freshness and florality of the wine being crucial to its brilliance), and the palate was carried and lifted by refreshing acidity that gave the wine perfect balance. A truly great Pomerol. We went home thoroughly satisfied by both food and wine, needing to rest well before going to work in the vats to see more of the post-harvest work that needed to be done.
