| Trottevieille 2004 • September 2005 | TROTTEVIEILLE
1er Grand Cru Classé
2004 Vintage
Weather conditions :
Winter was relatively wet, and the month of February ended with 3 cm of snow on the 27th. March and April had intermittent rain and sunshine. The bud-break occurred at the beginning of April. In May, the unsettled conditions continued with a rise in temperatures. July and August also had similarly unsettled weather, but which importantly still did not make up for the deficit of moisture in the soils. There was fine weather during September, which helped us to bring in a very good crop.
Growing season :
The flowering took place during the first week of June, while the colour change in the grapes began during the second half of July. De-leafing and removing of non fruit-bearing lateral shoots were started around June 20, once the bunches had closed. Crop thinning was then carried out according to strict instructions to space out the grapes and to keep the maximum number of bunches down to 7 or 8 per plant. The colour-change continued at the beginning of August ; then at the end of the month, the decision was made to de-leaf only certain plots. On the other hand, it was decided to carry out a second crop thinning on the whole of the estate. This enabled us to even out the spread of the bunches and to cull out the fruit that was not perfectly ripe for picking.
Harvest :
It was an October harvest. It began on October 4 with the Merlot. Because of the unsettled weather we decided to bolster the number of pickers in the team, to enable us to harvest exactly when necessary. The Cabernet was picked from October 10 to 12. The quality of the grapes was a high as expected after all the careful work performed in the vines throughout the summer.
It should be noted that for the first time the French ungrafted vines at Trottevieille (pre-phylloxera) were picked and vinified separately. All the plants in the plot had been marked at the beginning of September to facilitate picking and to avoid those younger vines which might be there.
Vinification :
The grapes were picked in small crates. They were then sorted, de-stemmed, placed on a vibrating table for another sorting, and then crushed before being sent into the vat.
With a low yield for this 2004 vintage, 38 hectolitres per hectare, we brought in superb fruit. A cold, pre-fermentation maceration favoured fruit expression and freshness. The fermentations were completed without any problems, at reasonable levels of temperature. The top wine is full, rich, round with sweet tannins, and shows excellent structure and red berry fruit aromas. In all, the hallmark of a top quality vintage.
La Vieille Dame de Trottevieille, all fruit character and elegance, continues to live up to its tradition as a very fine Second Wine.
We think, as do our oenologists Gilles Pauquet and Denis Dubourdieu, that we have succeeded in making a great Trottevieille, and a vintage which is in some ways reminiscent of 1982 but, at the same time, more concentrated. | |
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