Outside: The vineyard


Winter temperatures are very low, but growers are in the vineyards!
Winter is the season when we prune our vines in order to properly prepare for the future harvest and to ensure the good quality of our future vintages.. Sauternes and Chateau d'Arche, in particular, make no exception, quite the contrary! To date, we have made good progress.  We only have about 6 hectares out of 50 left to prune. We expect to have finished the entire vineyard in mid-February. As usual, we started by cutting the oldest vines that are more resistant to frost than the younger vines.  We finish with the younger vines in order to delay budding and thus the risk of eventual frost damage. These are little tricks of the trade that allow us obtain very good Sauternes!


Cellar side: The evolution of vintages 2009 and 2010 


We currently pampering the 2009 and 2010 vintages in our barrels.  We closely monitor their progress to know just the right time to bottle.  Deciding when to bottle is a very important step for the grower, a bit like when parents let their children move out. For now, our vintages are not quite ready, but are headed in a very good direction. A real group effort, the tasting at Chateau d'Arche is done by the director Jerome Cosson, the winemaker and cellar master Audrey Fargues.

Here is some of the most recent commentary:
”Regarding the 2009 vintage, we are on a very classic Sauternes, a wine that will seduce the Sauternes lovers.  Extremely pure and aromatic, this vintage is round and thick, providing richness and a very nice structure. Still in barrels, we will let ripen until late summer.
As for the 2010 vintage, one mustn’t be fooled by its young age.  The 2010 is already very smooth-quite rare for a wine so young.  This vintage is very different from its predecessor. More mineral, it is lively and just waiting to evolve. Only time will tell how our youngest vintage will mature but it’s certain is that this wine has a lot of potential!