The 2005 Vintage : The Perfection

Lived and explained by Stéphane Derenoncourt

April

The buds have as much trouble bursting as had the 2004 wines in opening. The cold and dry winter was marked by temperatures -4°C under the average February temperatures, and a hydrous deficit of 50% compared to the norm established over 30 years. We’re probably looking at a classical vintage with October harvests...


May

Sun drenched daytime and cool nights. Growth is coming along fine, fruit is appearing. Leaves are opening up and losing their dull colour. Growth homogeneity and vegetation are in progress. Rainfall is scarce, in spite of the weather forecasts. Vineyard work is going smoothly, the various tasks are being done. The plough’s metal head is being put at hard test on such dry soils...
The first flowers are visible as early as 20th May, the cycle is going fast, as if wasted time has to be caught up.
Flowering only lasts 8 to 10 days. It’s a wonderful aromatic stroll, very frustrating this year by its shortness in time making it impossible to check the various plots.


June

Still no rain, dryness is beginning to show. However, growth is smooth and regular, making vineyard managers happy. Usually, there is a lot of work between the end of disbudding and the beginning of tying up tasks. It leaves the vineyard in a mess for a few days.
This year, vineyards look like well kept gardens, tasks are done one after the other in no rush at all. Our choice of bio or biodynamic viticulture obliges us to check vine growth every week for good health cover. We once again observe record regularity of plant growth.
For one use to looking at the plant, stalks are already hard and leaves thick. The vines are thirsty. As the month of June comes to an end, the idea that vines are known to benefit from dryness becomes an abstract concept. The situation is worrisome.


July

2003 vintage comes back to mind with its problems. Are we going towards an exotic vintage, lacking in acidity? In anticipation, we try recalling what we could have improved in 2003. Rain is sill nowhere to be seen. The soils that are very filtering show the damage on the plants, growth stalls. Grapes stop developing, some plants lose their leaves.
From now on groundwork will make the difference. According to each plot, we weed, encourage scraping, or cut grapes creating positive compensation. In some vineyards, vines die because of “vine civil servants” who’ve gone on using chemicals to kill the weeds over decades.
The poor vines don’t stand a chance in this year rock hard soils. The situation is getting more critical than in 2003.
Bunches are in sufficient number, but grapes are small with thick skins and hardly any pulp. Turn begins for all grape varieties, dryness making it stretch in time longer than usual. Stalks and stems ripen. Storms during the second half of July bring back homogeneity.


August

« August makes the must ! » as goes the old proverb. How true this is.
August is exceptional. Still lacking in rain, dryer than 2000, 1995 or 1989, August 2005 will be a reference for its luminosity, not its heat. The difference in temperature between night and day benefits the fruit. Cool nights tan the grape skins and slow down maturity.
Wines from long cycle vintages such as this are very aromatic. It’s only at the end of August that we start to see the wonderful concentration and freshness potential the wines will have.


September

We measure the already very high sugar content early on in the month, hoping it won’t go up any further. Fermentations will already be chancy as it is...
The small rainfall end of August was a saviour, enabling a slow but full ripeness of the fruit. Grape tasting has never been as interesting for me in all my short career. Thick skins need more time to refine their tannins. Amazing and unheard of, the pips are already ripe and crisp. Normally they develop nutty aromas, this year they exhale roasted aromas losing their bitterness. Wines will gain weight during maceration, without metallic extract. The acid balance is interesting, the sun didn’t burn as much malic acid after all. The weather conditions are good, we’re going to be able to harvest when and how we want to.
By tasting the grapes, once over the sugar barrier, one can taste the difference in terroirs easily, the fruit is fresh with floral and liquorice aromas.


The sun shone for everyone in 2005 in Bordeaux, for every type and colour of grape variety, wine or appellation.
The differences in quality are due to the choices taken by each individual winemaker. The styles of the wines will depend on extraction parameters, length of maceration, choice of wood. Everything points to the greatness of the vintage. Exceptional power potential, enhanced by grape concentration due to dryness, without any exotic aromas, a precise expression of the different soils and the aromatic freshness make it wonderful.
The tastings confirm that we are well in Bordeaux.


Kindly translated by Laurie Matheson