CHÂTEAU DE LAMARQUE ~ VINTAGE 2013
CritiCS & journalist RATINGS - 2013
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Matthew Jukes - 16 points"A delicious wine. Terrific, dark, sooty fruit with a delicious core of plum and dark chocolate. Great spice and heart. Lovely and quite forward. Always a joy and will not cost the earth!"
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Decanter magazine - 16 points"Fine, dense red. Good cassis nose, well-expressed purity of Médoc fruit and ripe for 2013. A good wine." - Steven Spurrier".
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James Suckling - 89-90 points"A wine with very good blueberry and blackberry character, with a full body, velvety tannins and a juicy finish. Well done for the vintage.
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Marie-Hélène et Pierre-Gilles Gromand d’Evry NOTES
"We shouldn’t be too quick to make sweeping generalisations about 2013. It was, without doubt, a very small harvest and it was certainly a difficult one. Such uneven weather patterns as we saw last year required winegrowers to adapt, make choices and draw on their experience and determination. All these things invariably mark out one estate from another but there is one another crucial factor: the structure and health of the soils- and this means that hasty, generalised conclusions are a mistake.
At Château de Lamarque our two major preoccupations were the coulure in spring and the problems of rot spreading through the vineyard due to the weather in September.
But, although the weather was somewhat anarchic in 2013, there were actually generous amounts of sunshine and the required minimum temperatures. While there is no getting away from the fact that conditions during the harvest were unsettled, the care we took of our vines all year long, and the decisions we took, meant that the grapes finally ripened evenly and early.
The amount of coulure undoubtedly had an impact on volume, but it did not hit the entire vineyard and so we actually green harvested on certain plots to ensure we got the best quality possible. By the beginning of August it was patently clear this was going to be a very small harvest and, consequently, likely to be an early-ripening year with good concentration.
It’s possibly interesting at this point to remember that we have been using the Cousinié method at Château de Lamarque for more than 20 years. Named after the Narbonne agronomist, Jean-Pierre Cousinié, who acts as a consultant to a large number of leading estates in Bordeaux and throughout the world, the method is based on the premise that the more the soil is nutritionally balanced, the less one needs to treat the crop. Cousinié himself frequently refers to the demonstrations of Dr Arden Andersen, which show that sick plants come from soils that are unstructured, unbalanced and lacking it vital natural nutrients. In other words: the soil has to function properly.
As convinced practioners of the Cousinié method, we took two major decisions last year:
1. No treatment against botrytis on the young Cabernet Sauvignon vines and none on the Merlot or the Petit Verdot - i.e. 60% of our vineyard was not treated against rot.
2. Following analysis of the grapes at the end of August, we gave the vines a potassium leaf-feed to ensure the plants had the correct magnesium / potassium balance. In fact, if the balance is good or, better, perfect, this type of feed during the ripening period gives earlier, optimal, all-round ripeness. Anti-botrytis treatments, on the contrary, prolong the vegetative life of the vine and delay ripening, pushing back the harvest.
And, as we know, the later we harvest when the weather is changeable, the riskier it gets.
Obviously, we are aware that not everyone adheres to the theory that spraying crops against rot prolongs the vegetative phase but we happen to believe it strongly.
The decisions above were essential in responding to the very challenging conditions of 2013. We have to make it clear that we are not organic producers but we do not use weed killers (only ploughing) and we never treat our vines preventatively. Our main priority is to safeguard the soils and maintain their nutritional balance at all costs.
The analysis of the first vat of Merlot, harvested on September 26th, showed: Alcohol: 13.5 - pH: 3.39 - Total Acidity: 3.36
Harvesting dates :
- Merlot: September 26th to October 2nd (not continuously)
- Cabernet Sauvignon: October 3rd to October 10th (not continuously)
- Petit Verdot: October 10th and 11th
As in 2012, we harvested by hand and by machine, using one of the latest generation of machine harvesters, with a de-stemming function so as not to tear the berries. We needed an additional, skilled, ‘rapid response task force’ to pick the grapes in good condition but at maximum ripeness and we also needed extra sorting capacity in the vineyard and at the winery. This was helped enormously by the fact that in 2012 we invested in an optical sorting table (Defranceschi X-TRI as used by our neighbours at La Lagune, Leoville Las Cases …). The machine combines speed with a very high level of selection, as the cameras can analyse the level of chlorophyll against a given figure.
In 2013, we were able to pick, stop and start again at exactly the pace we wanted, the aim being to blitz a plot according to the grape variety, soil and location.
M I L Vinification was relatively easy: no problems with the alcoholic or malolactic fermentations.The grapes were then spun and pressed twice.
The gross yield over 37 hectares of vineyard was 32 hl/ha, giving 28.5 hl/ha net (12% of the grapes were discarded after sorting by X-TRI). Final analysis: Alcohol: 13° - IPT: 65-102 - Acidity: 3.4
Overall: good balance
With the help of consultant oenologist, Eric Boissenot, we will produce 65% of our Grand Vin, Château de Lamarque, 30% of our second wine, Donjon de Lamarque, and 5% of our saignée rosé wine,” R “ .
The blend in Château de Lamarque 2013 will be: 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 10% Petit-Verdot. The small remaining of amount of Cabernet Franc on the estate as well as the young Merlot will go into Donjon de Lamarque.
The wine went into barrel from mid-November until the end of the year. 100% of the harvest is being barrel-aged. We are using five French coopers and a medium chauffe: 45% of the oak is new, 40% has been used for one vintage and 15% has been used for two vintages.
CONCLUSION: Château Lamarque 2013: very deep garnet red, nose still quite closed. Black fruit aromas and oak from barrel-ageing. Well-balanced and good structure on the palate. Dense, concentrated with fine tannins and good fruit. Good length.
A wine that reflects the efforts made at Lamarque during the whole of 2013 in the vineyard, in the choices made at harvest time, and in the classic approach to its vinification.
At Château de Lamarque our two major preoccupations were the coulure in spring and the problems of rot spreading through the vineyard due to the weather in September.
But, although the weather was somewhat anarchic in 2013, there were actually generous amounts of sunshine and the required minimum temperatures. While there is no getting away from the fact that conditions during the harvest were unsettled, the care we took of our vines all year long, and the decisions we took, meant that the grapes finally ripened evenly and early.
The amount of coulure undoubtedly had an impact on volume, but it did not hit the entire vineyard and so we actually green harvested on certain plots to ensure we got the best quality possible. By the beginning of August it was patently clear this was going to be a very small harvest and, consequently, likely to be an early-ripening year with good concentration.
It’s possibly interesting at this point to remember that we have been using the Cousinié method at Château de Lamarque for more than 20 years. Named after the Narbonne agronomist, Jean-Pierre Cousinié, who acts as a consultant to a large number of leading estates in Bordeaux and throughout the world, the method is based on the premise that the more the soil is nutritionally balanced, the less one needs to treat the crop. Cousinié himself frequently refers to the demonstrations of Dr Arden Andersen, which show that sick plants come from soils that are unstructured, unbalanced and lacking it vital natural nutrients. In other words: the soil has to function properly.
As convinced practioners of the Cousinié method, we took two major decisions last year:
1. No treatment against botrytis on the young Cabernet Sauvignon vines and none on the Merlot or the Petit Verdot - i.e. 60% of our vineyard was not treated against rot.
2. Following analysis of the grapes at the end of August, we gave the vines a potassium leaf-feed to ensure the plants had the correct magnesium / potassium balance. In fact, if the balance is good or, better, perfect, this type of feed during the ripening period gives earlier, optimal, all-round ripeness. Anti-botrytis treatments, on the contrary, prolong the vegetative life of the vine and delay ripening, pushing back the harvest.
And, as we know, the later we harvest when the weather is changeable, the riskier it gets.
Obviously, we are aware that not everyone adheres to the theory that spraying crops against rot prolongs the vegetative phase but we happen to believe it strongly.
The decisions above were essential in responding to the very challenging conditions of 2013. We have to make it clear that we are not organic producers but we do not use weed killers (only ploughing) and we never treat our vines preventatively. Our main priority is to safeguard the soils and maintain their nutritional balance at all costs.
The analysis of the first vat of Merlot, harvested on September 26th, showed: Alcohol: 13.5 - pH: 3.39 - Total Acidity: 3.36
Harvesting dates :
- Merlot: September 26th to October 2nd (not continuously)
- Cabernet Sauvignon: October 3rd to October 10th (not continuously)
- Petit Verdot: October 10th and 11th
As in 2012, we harvested by hand and by machine, using one of the latest generation of machine harvesters, with a de-stemming function so as not to tear the berries. We needed an additional, skilled, ‘rapid response task force’ to pick the grapes in good condition but at maximum ripeness and we also needed extra sorting capacity in the vineyard and at the winery. This was helped enormously by the fact that in 2012 we invested in an optical sorting table (Defranceschi X-TRI as used by our neighbours at La Lagune, Leoville Las Cases …). The machine combines speed with a very high level of selection, as the cameras can analyse the level of chlorophyll against a given figure.
In 2013, we were able to pick, stop and start again at exactly the pace we wanted, the aim being to blitz a plot according to the grape variety, soil and location.
M I L Vinification was relatively easy: no problems with the alcoholic or malolactic fermentations.The grapes were then spun and pressed twice.
The gross yield over 37 hectares of vineyard was 32 hl/ha, giving 28.5 hl/ha net (12% of the grapes were discarded after sorting by X-TRI). Final analysis: Alcohol: 13° - IPT: 65-102 - Acidity: 3.4
Overall: good balance
With the help of consultant oenologist, Eric Boissenot, we will produce 65% of our Grand Vin, Château de Lamarque, 30% of our second wine, Donjon de Lamarque, and 5% of our saignée rosé wine,” R “ .
The blend in Château de Lamarque 2013 will be: 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 10% Petit-Verdot. The small remaining of amount of Cabernet Franc on the estate as well as the young Merlot will go into Donjon de Lamarque.
The wine went into barrel from mid-November until the end of the year. 100% of the harvest is being barrel-aged. We are using five French coopers and a medium chauffe: 45% of the oak is new, 40% has been used for one vintage and 15% has been used for two vintages.
CONCLUSION: Château Lamarque 2013: very deep garnet red, nose still quite closed. Black fruit aromas and oak from barrel-ageing. Well-balanced and good structure on the palate. Dense, concentrated with fine tannins and good fruit. Good length.
A wine that reflects the efforts made at Lamarque during the whole of 2013 in the vineyard, in the choices made at harvest time, and in the classic approach to its vinification.
