Les Carmes de Rieussec AC Sauternes 2013

Vintage 2013: 

The very wet, cold winter resulted in work in the vineyard being considerably delayed; bud break was late, and flowering was three weeks later than the average for the last 50 years; the changeable weather resulted in some flower abortion and uneven grape size, and therefore in lower potential yields than usual. Then at the end of June, the weather suddenly changed, and it was as if we were in the middle of the summer, with no transition, although there were a lot of localized storms.

The harvest period put our technicians in a cold sweat: rain, sun, and a long, slow ripening, which became difficult to manage with an “explosive” outbreak of botrytis in late September! Fortunately, the sorting teams were very efficient despite the difficult harvest conditions. The selective picking continued to the end of October with excellent botrytisation.