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«The source may be beautiful, but true beauty lies in the accomplishment...» 3
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Sommaire Climatology The 2014 vintage 9 Tasting Château Puygueraud, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Château La Prade, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Château Alcée, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux Château Trimoulet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Château Berliquet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé Château Larcis Ducasse, Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Pavie Macquin, Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Beauséjour hdl, Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Puygueraud, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux (white) Château Les Charmes-Godard, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux (white) 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 5
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The wine: flavour of the earth The terroir, defined by a location, a weather, and witness of its history, is also the signature of the men that shaped it. Changing according to the weather, fragile in its biological equilibrium, durable in the content of its soil, the terroir is what I want to express into the wines I make! And the quality of a wine is only a reflection of its complexity. In short, unlocking the secrets in its soil! 7
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2014 Climatology A vine life-cycle for the ages An early spring The winter is rainy, one of the wettest of the past 50 years. But it is also an exceptionally mild one with less than 10 morning frosts over 3 months, and from 2-4 C above 10-year seasonal averages in January and February. Against this background, spring enters the scene early. Vegetation is hurried, not least in the vineyard. Buds are emerging out of their duvet to show their (green!) noses two weeks ahead of schedule. A frank and precocious bud burst is, at this stage, pointing towards an early vintage. CLIMATOLOGY 9
Will there be a summer? Mid-April is a turning point: weather cools, and the growth of the vine slows down. The month of May, also cool and wet, is not reassuring. The very cold 2013 spring having impaired the harvest potential, the margin is slim and there is no room for coulure. Good flowering conditions could hopefully save a maximum of fruits. June is here, and soon the summer! A hot and dry first fortnight is timely. Flowering speeds up and completes in a nice and uniform fashion. It is a huge relief! But except for a short, hot few days in late July, the summer will never really settle in. July, and especially August are cold and wet. Constant rainfalls delay the grapes maturation further. Despite its precocious start, this vintage is turning out to be a late one. To take advantage of this strange summer will require a dedicated team, devising the right approach and handling the vineyard with great care. Hardly a break this summer for the vintners! No longer expected, the summer finally shows up! Days are shorter, the end of summer is near, and when we are no longer expecting it, on the last week of August, summer is finally here...and lasts! From August 27th until the end of October, an exceptionally dry and hot weather settles in. An Indian summer not seen since 1921! Suddenly, our hopes are up again after a tough few months. The vine finally focuses its efforts on maturing the grapes. 10 CLIMATOLOGY
The dry weather concentrates the juices, the high temperature range refines the tannins and enables the expression of a great aromatic potential, combining freshness and ripeness. The weather gods are with us: the grapes need time, and we are able to patiently wait until the end of October to harvest our black grapes. The white ones were serenely harvested during September. No remake of 2013 and its hasty harvest this year! We are able to freely pick the optimal harvesting dates. The experience and knowledge of our vineyard, and the tasting of the grape berries are critical to gathering juicy and radiant fruits. This is the key challenge: catch this unique moment where the fresh grapes, full of energy, represent our different terroirs at their best. This is what is gratifying: working with dedication and enthusiasm, selecting, with patience, the finest grapes to produce neat, vigourous and elegant wines, with flavourful texture. By David Suire, based on observations on the right-bank properties managed by the Nicolas Thienpont teams. CLIMATOLOGY 11
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Tasting 13
Château Puygueraud Francs Côtes de Bordeaux George Thienpont acquired the estate in 1946 and replants it with vines at the end of the 70s. Since 1983 his son Nicolas has been in charge of making the wines. Château Puygueraud has become one of the key estates in the Côtes de Francs and is a reference in the renewal of this, yet, unrecognized appellation. Dry vintage for the Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, the late summer allowed us to get remarkable level of ripeness. The vat of Malbec was especially successful, the result of hard work in the vineyard and a separate vinification thanks to the new concrete vats. While our Merlots from the plateau and the slopes combined power and minerality, density and finesse. Terroir: clay-chalk on asteriated limestone subsoil, clay subsoil and marl subsoil. Area: 35 ha Harvest: Merlot from October 3 rd to 17 th, Malbec October 13 th, Cabernet Franc October 17 th Yield: 40 hl/ha Production: 150 000 bottles Blend: 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec 1983 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owners: Thienpont Family / Contact: Nicolas Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 47 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 48 E-mail: contact@puygueraud.com / Web: www.puygueraud.com 14 CHÂTEAU PUYGUERAUD
CHÂTEAU PUYGUERAUD 15
Château La Prade Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Nicolas Thienpont acquired Château La Prade in 2000. The vines are perfectly situated on the community of Saint-Cibard, partly on the limestone plateau and partly on the lime-clay-chalk hillside. 2014 offers favourable conditions to the Merlots, on the plateau de Nichon. Its clays give us a vintage that express limestone combined with a solar character. Terroir: Part clay-chalk on limestone subsoil and part clay-chalk hillside Area: 7 ha Harvest: Merlot from October 10 th to 14 th, Cabernet Franc on October 20 th Yield: 40 hl/ha Production: 30 000 bottles Blend: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc 2000 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owner: Nicolas Thienpont Contact: Nicolas Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 47 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 48 E-mail: nthienpont@nicolas-thienpont.com Web: under construction 16 CHÂTEAU LA PRADE
CHÂTEAU LA PRADE 17
Château Alcée Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux Nicolas Thienpont bought in July 2011, 3 ha in Côtes de Castillon. The vineyard is located at the top of clay and limestone plateau and the rock appear under the red clay. In January 2014, 1 hectare was deducted and 4,5 added, composed of plots situated near Saint Philippe d Aiguille, also on a chalky limestone plateau, with different soil depths, alternating compact clay and more superficial outskirts. The wine becomes more rounded, and the texture, more dense, supplements the finesse, race and minerality of the new vintage. Alcée is a flower, a Mallow, family of Malvacées. In Greek mythology, Alcée (Alcaeus), son of Perseus and Andromeda, is the king of Tyrintha. Alcée de Mytilene (Alcaeus of Mytilene) is a Greek poet born around 630 BC. He is a representative of the monodic lyrical poetry, Alexandrian scholars included him in their canonical list. Terroir: clay-chalk on asteriated limestone plateau Area: 6,5 ha (100% in production in 2014) Harvest: Merlot picked on October 10 th, 14 th and 16 th, Cabernet Franc on October 20 th Yield: 30 hl/ha Production: 18 000 bottles Blend: 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc 2011 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owner: Nicolas Thienpont / Contact: Nicolas Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 47 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 48 E-mail: nthienpont@nicolas-thienpont.com / Web: under construction 18 CHÂTEAU ALCÉE
CHÂTEAU ALCÉE 19
Château Trimoulet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Although the Jean family have been at Château Trimoulet since 1802, a woman is in charge of this Saint-Emilion Grand Cru for the first time: Cécile Jean, thirty-five-yearold, ably assisted by her husband, David Dumont. Since 2011, assisted by Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire, they have revolutionized both viticulture and winemaking in order to reveal the potential of this terroir. Terroir: clay-chalk soils on compacted clays and claylime. Area: 16 ha (15,5 ha in production) Harvest: Merlot from October 2 nd to 10 th, Cabernet Franc on October 10 th, 11 th and 14 th Yield: 42 hl/ha (35% of grand vin) Production: 32 000 bottles Blend: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc 2011 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owners: Jean family Tel: + 33 (0) 5 57 24 70 56 E-mail: trimoulet.jean@wanadoo.fr Web: www.chateautrimoulet.com 20 CHÂTEAU TRIMOULET
CHÂTEAU TRIMOULET 21
Château Berliquet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé Berliquet is one of the oldest vineyards in Saint-Emilion. It was bought by the Viscounts de Carles and given as an heritage to the family Lesquen. The vines are located very closed to the village. To be precise, the vineyard actually between Angelus and Ausone, is one of the oldest of Saint-Emilion. The arrival, in July 2008, of Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt marked the beginning of the search for even more precision in the vineyard and ripeness with the aim to express the finesse of this terroir. The young vines, planted in 2012, benefitted from the generous climate in 2014 and their first production points to a bright future for the forthcoming harvests. Berliquet, again, emphasises his unique identity: a plain expression of the limestone, exposed to the sun, unvarnished, with beautiful aromatic flavours as well as a rigourous fabric and texture, with a chalky, salty finish. Terroir: part clay-chalk plateau with asteriated limestone subsoil, facing west clay-lime-chalk slope enhanced by the presence of colluvial deposits and windblown sands for another part. Area: 9 ha (100% in production in 2014) Harvest: Merlot on October 1 st, 2 nd, 7 th and 10 th, Cabernet Franc on October 11 th and 13 th, Cabernet Sauvignon on Octobre 17 th Yield: 30 hl/ha (76% of grand vin) Production: 25 000 bottles Blend: 75% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owner: Patrick de Lesquen / Contacts: Nicolas Thienpont (manager), Cyrille Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 24 70 48 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 24 70 24 E-mail: contact@berliquet.com / Web: www.berliquet.com 22 CHÂTEAU BERLIQUET
CHÂTEAU BERLIQUET 23
Château Larcis Ducasse Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé 2012: Larcis Ducasse is promoted Premier Grand Cru Classé in the classification of the wines of Saint-Emilion. In the vineyard, 2014 made us fear the worst... with a very happy ending. Benefitting from the exceptional location of the Côte Pavie might not be enough. How can we give some sun back to a grapevine during this wet and cool summer? By working the soil appropriately, and mostly, by our spectacular decision not to trim the vine! Tried out successfully in 2013, the trellising of the vineyard, was extended this year. In the cellar our ageing is more subtle, calm and smooth, giving the wine time to grow steadily, to blossom, and to openly express its terroir... Hence the 500l barrels are now an integral part of our cellar, to accompany the more elegant batches. Terroir: plateau of clay-chalk on asteriated limestone subsoil (10%), south-exposed terraces : very superficial clay-lime soil on asteriated limestone subsoil (55%), clay-chalk colluvial soil on the side of the slope (35%) Area: 11,15 ha (9,95 ha in production) Harvest: Merlot on October 1 st, 4 th, 7 th, 8 th, 10 th and 14 th, Cabernet Franc on October 8 th, 10 th and 14 th Yield: 37,50 hl/ha (62,7% of grand vin) Production: 29 500 bottles Blend: 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc 2002 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owners: Family Gratiot-Attmane / Contacts: Nicolas Thienpont (manager / David Suire (winemaker) / Blandine Giambiasi (communication) Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 24 70 84 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 24 64 00 E-mail: contact@larcis-ducasse.com / Web: www.larcis-ducasse.com 24 CHÂTEAU LARCIS DUCASSE
CHÂTEAU LARCIS DUCASSE 25
Château Pavie Macquin Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Pavie Macquin owes its name to the grandfather of the current owners: Albert Macquin (1852-1911) to whom Saint Emilion owes the introduction of grafted vines that saved the vineyards ruined by phylloxera. This family-owned estate is perfectly located on the plateau dominating Saint Emilion. At the end of 1994 Nicolas Thienpont is named manager and relies on the counsel of Stéphane Derenoncourt. 2014 is the year of the winegrower at Pavie Macquin: high density plantation, optimisation of the spring sowing in order to mitigate the heavy rainfall of the vintage. The use of new straddler-tractors allows more precise soil-working, best suited to the different characteristics and aspects of the plateau. All the art of the vintner, in this exceptional cru, is put towards taming the natural power of the terroir to achieve elegance and find the power of elegance. Terroir: clay-chalk plateau with asteriated limestone subsoil Area: 15 ha (14 ha in production) Harvests: Merlot from October 6 th to 14 th, Cabernet Franc on October 10 th and 14 th, Cabernet Sauvignon on October 14 th Yield: 36 hl/ha (85% of grand vin) Production: 50 000 bottles Blend: 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon 1995 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owners: Corre Macquin Family Contact: Nicolas Thienpont (manager) / Cyrille Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 24 74 23 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 24 63 78 E-mail: contact@pavie-macquin.com / Web: www.pavie-macquin.com 26 CHÂTEAU PAVIE MACQUIN
CHÂTEAU PAVIE MACQUIN 27
Château Beauséjour (héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse) Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Beautifully located, rooted on the hill and open to the elements, Château Beauséjour has calledon a new management team in 2009 led by Nicolas Thienpont and David Suire. 2014, the summer is cool and wet, our audacious choices in the vineyard have fortunately paid off. In particular our decision about not trimming the vines! A consequence of the trellising of the vineyard done in June, to allow the 30% excess foliage to capture more light. In the cellar the selections has been done without comprimses on quality. Our maturation? Subtler, giving the wine time to grow steadily, to blossom smoothly: the old quarries underneath the Château, cool and ventilated receive now each vintage at the end of its first winter and for at least one year. Terroir: clay-chalk plateau on asteriated limestone subsoil (40%), south and west exposed slope -very superficial claychalk (50%), colluvial clay-chalk soil on the side of the slope 10%) Area: 6,80 ha (6 ha in production) Harvest: Merlot on October 6 th, 11 th and 13 th, Cabernet Franc on October 13 th and 15 th Yield: 39 hl/ha (56 % of grand vin) Production: 17 000 bottles Blend: 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc 2009 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owners: Duffau-Lagarrosse heirs Contacts: Nicolas Thienpont (manager) / David Suire (winemaker) Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 24 71 61 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 74 48 40 E-mail: beausejourhdl@beausejourhdl.com / Web: www.beausejourhdl.com 28 CHÂTEAU BEAUSÉJOUR (HÉRITIERS DUFFAU-LAGARROSSE)
CHÂTEAU BEAUSÉJOUR (HÉRITIERS DUFFAU-LAGARROSSE) 29
Château Puygueraud (white) Francs Côtes de Bordeaux George Thienpont acquired the estate in 1946 and replants it with vines at the end of the 70s. Since 1983 his son Nicolas has been in charge of making the wines. Château Puygueraud has become one of the key estates in the Côtes de Francs and is a reference in the renewal of this, yet, unrecognized appellation. In 2014, Puygueraud produced its second white wine vintage. Still 100% Sauvignon, and with growing precision in harvesting, this vintage reveals the exoticism of the Sauvignon gris and the beautiful line designed by the Sauvignon blanc. As for the selection of Sauvignon blanc from the Loire région planted on the great limestone hill, it is growing... Terroir: clay-chalk on asteriated limestone subsoil, clay subsoil and marl subsoil. Area: 5 ha Harvest: Sauvignon blanc on September 11 th and 18 th, Sauvignon gris on September 18 th and 22 nd Yield: 45 hl/ha (50% of grand vin) Production : 12 000 bottles Blend: 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Sauvignon Gris 2013 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owners: Thienpont Family Contact: Nicolas Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 47 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 48 E-mail: contact@puygueraud.com Web: www.puygueraud.com 30 CHÂTEAU PUYGUERAUD
CHÂTEAU PUYGUERAUD 31
Château Les Charmes-Godard (white) Francs Côtes de Bordeaux The estate, acquired by Nicolas Thienpont in 1988, produces this great white wine, elaborated with increased quality approach on the last vintages. The large predominance of Semillon and the winemaking techniques applied (fermentation in 500l barrels and 6-months ageing on lees) give the wine its richness and creaminess whilst still having a good acidic support. The complexity of the aromatic characters, beyond the Sémillon, is an expression of the balance blend of Sauvignon Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. Massal selections are starting to reveal their aromatic precision. The harvest of grapes by successive selections seems to be one of the keys to optimise the balance between ripeness and freshness. Terroir: mainly clay-chalk with some lime soils on marl subsoil. Area: 5,5 ha Harvest: Semillon from September 15 th to 25 th, Sauvignon Blanc on September 17 th and 20 th, Sauvignon Gris on September 19 th and 20 th. Yield: 45hL /ha (50% of grand vin) Production : 12 500 bouteilles Blend: 50% Sémillon, 35% Sauvignon Gris, 15% Sauvignon Blanc 1988 First vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont Owner: Nicolas Thienpont Tel: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 47 - Fax: + 33 (0)5 57 56 07 48 E-mail: contact@charmes-godard.com Web: www.charmes-godard.com 32 CHÂTEAU LES CHARMES-GODARD
CHÂTEAU LES CHARMES-GODARD 33
Château Pavie Macquin, Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Beauséjour hdl, Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Larcis Ducasse, Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Berliquet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé Château Trimoulet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Château Alcée, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux Château La Prade, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Château Puygueraud, (red) Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Château Puygueraud, (white) Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Château Les Charmes-Godard, (white) Francs Côtes de Bordeaux