{"id":40090,"date":"2023-10-24T14:59:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T13:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/tension-et-equilibre\/"},"modified":"2023-10-27T14:29:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:29:14","slug":"tension-and-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/home\/cos-chronicle\/tension-and-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Tension and balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/_wix0vxwFBo” el_aspect=”235″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”none”][vc_column][vc_column_text]A<\/span>fter posing various challenges in the vineyard, among them that of bringing the potential of the harvest to fruition and the threat of mildew, the 2023 vintage offers remarkable balance between tension, elegance, and fine fruit. The vintage actually dates back to 2022, when hot, dry conditions during flowering set the stage for a higher than usual number of clusters for the 2023 vintage.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>The new growing cycle began with soils that had been generously replenished with water by winter rainfall, especially during the months of November and January. After homogenous bud break at the end of March, the nearby Gironde Estuary helped temper the estate\u2019s microclimate and protect the hill of Cos from frost in early April.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A first hot spell on May 27\u201331 led to early, rapid flowering that was extremely homogenous, thanks to elevated temperatures that also contributed to its quality. This was followed by significant rainfall in June and a precocious threat of mildew that required heightened vigilance in the vineyard.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”39986″ img_size=”550×650″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”none”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”custom-intro”]Meticulous leaf thinning was carried out rapidly and early on a single side of the vine rows to let air circulate more freely among the grapes and foster healthier conditions. At the same time, ploughing was stopped ahead of schedule to favor the growth of natural grass cover that accelerated water stress and largely protected the vine from mildew during the summer months.
\nAlthough the vineyard was spared from excessive heat in July, average temperatures remained high, with warm nights remaining the norm from June onwards.
\nThis was the context in which veraison occurred, once again in an early, rapid, and homogenous fashion. When faced with the possibility of a copious harvest on certain vines, the difficult but necessary decision was made to thin clusters on certain over-abundant Merlot vines to maintain optimal grape quality.
\nThere were two heat waves late in the season, on August 16\u201324 and September 3\u201310, but fears that the grapes would lose some of their freshness and that the hot weather would too greatly impact the vintage were for naught! The vine seems to have paused its development, especially during the second hot spell, which resulted in tannins that were very ripe but not excessively so, with a balance reminiscent of the 2016 vintage.<\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”none”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”39956″ img_size=”550×650″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Harvest began on September 5 in the Goul\u00e9e vineyard with white wine varietals whose homogeneity allowed grapes to be collected in a single passage within the same week. Harvest of red wine varietals took place on September 12\u201329, with a significant time lapse between that of the estate\u2019s noble Merlot and that of its great Cabernet Sauvignon. The earliest to ripen, the former were harvested beginning on September 12 to preserve their fruit and verve. It was only 14 days later that the latter were clipped from the vine, once their tannins and seeds had reached optimal maturity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Although it would be premature to characterize the 2023 vintage with any certainty, its remarkable fruit and tension promise a flavorful, refined wine with outstanding balance.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After posing various challenges in the vineyard, among them that of bringing the potential of the harvest to fruition and the threat of mildew, the 2023 vintage offers remarkable balance between tension, elegance, and fine fruit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":39958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal-de-bord","category-article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40090"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40136,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40090\/revisions\/40136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}