Palate
A rigorous selection at the time of winemaking, as well as important drawing off allowed us to produce soft and fruity wines, although moderately robust.
Growing Conditions
Pleasure above all. A desire for delight guided a vintage created in difficult conditions. The weather, firstly: a harsh winter followed by a late blossoming, a cold July and a wet harvest.
1987 is a complicated vintage lacking in intricacy, with soft tannins and little acidity. January was particularly cold and icy. Temperatures dropped to -17°C on January 18th. In February, temperatures rose and there was a mixture of rain and sunshine. Spring came slowly. On March 31st, -2°C was recorded. The vines were still dormant. April was more positive with temperatures of around 23°C on average. The buds broke around 8th and the vines grew rapidly. After an excellent start to the month of June, early flowering suffered a set back. It rained for most of the month. A cool and not very sunny month of July caused coulure and millerandage. August was fairly warm but the nights were cool at the beginning of the month and the vines suffered from a lack of heat. The rest of the month was very mild and the véraison made great progress. September was marked by a combination of storms and finer weather. From 7th to the 22nd, exceptional temperatures (37°C on 18th) gave hope but the harvest was very irregular. The day before the harvest, despite inequality across
the vineyard, the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon reached satisfactory levels of maturity. On October 7th, the weather became gloomy, overcast and rainy and this continued on until the end of the month. As a result the harvest was diluted.
Winemaking
The vinification, secondly: selection had to be particularly draconian. The result, however, was a supple, fruity wine. In a word: pleasurable.
