After a spectacular start thanks to a warm spring and an exciting month of June, the 2014 season, which looked particulary promising, ended up by being delicate and complex. July was cold, below seasonal norms, and the cool August nights supplemented by rainy days did not catch up. Consequently, veraison was heterogeneous within the cluster and all the advance taken during the pretty spring months was as well as turned to dust. It was finally the beautiful month of September with dry weather, temperatures close to 30°C. and exceptional sunshine which saved the vintage; a real gift from nature, perfectly unexpected (as in 2008). This good general weather with cool nights, ideal scenario for the aromatic expression, also allowed the stopping of all health degradations in the affected plots. It resulted in: beautiful little berries, very concentrated. It is a rare vintage, with another small harvest for us, but which could be the worthy successor of the great classic vintages. We are already thinking of 2010 for the structure and 2001 for the freshness and luster of the fruit. Finally the 2014 will only look like itself with a promising balance between sugar and acidity and which suggests a nice aromatic complexity to come.

Calm before the storm...