2002 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc

"We tasted the white grapes on August 18, after we returned from vacation," said manager Remi Edange, "but they weren't ripe despite having low acidity and high sugars. So we waited a full week. We picked a bit on August 25, then really stopped again until early September." Rain on September 12 necessitated harvesting merlot, as the skins of the grapes were quickly affected, but Domaine de Chevalier waited until September 25 to bring in its cabernet sauvignon. "It was a harvest filled with difficult choices," Edange summarized, "but the 2003 has been a simple wine to make, with problem-free vinifications." The yield for red grapes averaged 46 hectoliters per hectare, but only 38 for the sauvignon blanc and semillon.

"The ripeness came from the sun in September, but not from high temperatures," said owner Olivier Bernard. "Everyone had the beginnings of rot at the end of August, even in their cabernet, but the sunny, windy weather really blocked its spread." Bernard enlisted the consulting assistance of Stephane Derenoncourt to make the 2002 red, and the young wine was still on its lees at the beginning of April. It will also be racked less frequently than in the past, which should enable the wine to carry more of its sweetness into the bottle. Bernard emphasized that unlike most of the other consulting enologists of the Bordeaux region, Derenoncourt visited the vineyard a good ten times before the harvest.