HARVEST 2020

The Birth of a Great Vintage

With a rainy spring and a hot summer, the work in the vineyard was particularly attentive this year, aiming to accompany nature and each vine with respect until the harvest. After 9 weeks of harvesting, walking through the rows of vines, observing, tasting the grapes, appreciating the evolution of their maturity, accompanying their reception in the cellar with care, we had, at the last cut of the pruning shears on October 15, the feeling of having watched over together the birth of a great 2020 vintage. Discover the short film of the 2020 harvest.

Vintage 2020 – perspective note

October 20, 2020

Richard Planas, Director of Châteaux and Domaines Gérard Bertrand

2020: a wet spring followed by a hot summer

The 2020 wine campaign will remain deeply marked by a unique and contrasting climate depending on the season.

The mild and rainy winter of 2020 allowed for a benevolent recharge of the subsoil's water reserves and an early bud burst. As a precaution, we were led to preventively deploy "candles" in sensitive areas, which allowed us to avoid the pitfall of frost.

The wet and warm spring generated active plant growth, good development of the leaf surface and early flowering, breaking records in terms of thermal and rainfall balances.

The summer was typically Mediterranean : the absence of precipitation and high temperatures, but not excessive, allowed the vineyard to start on the path to ripening its grapes.

The harvest begins on August 18 , a first in our vineyards, about ten days ahead of the early white grape varieties (Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs).

Biological indicators in the green

Annual rainfall has reached, in most of our terroirs, historic values ​​for the Mediterranean climate (>800mm). Coupled with high temperatures, but normal for the Languedoc region, these water supplies have allowed an early and beneficial development of the foliage, a revival of the biological activity of the soils and an excellent mineral nutrition . But they have also favored the development of parasites and pests, against which we have helped the vines to defend themselves by stimulating their natural defenses.

Locally, the significant winter and spring rains were not enough to eliminate all water stress in the plots with superficial soil. We compensated for this by combining soil work, yield control and biodynamic applications.

The summer storms (mid-July and mid-August) and the dominance of the sea wind in August (raising the air humidity) have locally restored a good physiological balance of the foliage and the grapes.

Technical monitoring and plot monitoring

As every year, we exercised daily vigilance and attention to the vineyard by surveying each plot with care . This monitoring and precision work allows us to accompany each vine until the harvest in the best conditions.

We have equipped ourselves with high-performance tools to consolidate our diagnoses: connected weather stations, measurement of water stress, nutritional monitoring by analysis of petioles .

We have also created a laboratory to independently carry out analyses by “ sensitive crystallizations ” to support our technical choices in terms of biodynamics.

The applications of biodynamic preparations also played a particularly important role in supporting the harmonious development of vegetation and stimulating natural defenses against climatic or parasitic aggressions. They followed one another in time with the seasons and planetary alignments: Maria Thun manure compost in the fall, Horn Manure in the spring and Horn Silica during the vegetation phases of the vine…

A harvest with very high qualitative potential in perspective

The results meet our criteria of excellence: the harvest volumes are in line with our quality objectives.

The excellent health status of the vineyard was maintained from the beginning to the end of the harvest . It was necessary to remain vigilant, as every year during the harvest period, depending on the weather.

The quality indicators (earliness; leaf area/load ratio; chemical composition and tasting of the berries; health status) suggest an exceptional vintage.

The harvest started early this year (1 week ahead of normal, more than 15 days ahead of 2019) with the Chardonnay harvest on Cigalus on August 18 , and ended at Domaine de l'Estagnère on October 15 with the Cabernet Franc harvest.

Thus, we had almost 2 months of harvests distributed according to the maturity of our different terroirs: as close as possible to the maturity of the grapes, balance between preservation of freshness, elegance of tannins and full expression of the aromatic potential of the berries.

The focus of this vintage was first on the whites where we had a precise monitoring of the maturities to preserve the acidity and the good balance of these wines. On the whites, the abundant spring rainfall as well as the showers during the summer allowed to have juicy berries and to have very clear and aromatic juices .

The first reds released have strong colours and very concentrated wines . This year, vigilance has focused on the very high extractability of the tannins. Thus, the macerations are shorter and the extractions very gentle (light pumping over, no over-extraction). Harvesting at just the right maturity allows for elegant wines. Whole-bunch macerations on the Carignans but also on a few selected Syrahs fully reveal the expression of the terroir and the vintage, bringing fat to the wine and bringing characteristic notes of tapenade and garrigue. The destemmed macerations, largely in the majority, are elegant and reveal all the power and complexity of the wines.

The rosés continue their maturation in barrels for another 6 months. This year, all the estates have equipped themselves with refrigerated containers as well as crates allowing us to press fresh grapes to preserve all the aroma and thus obtain pale rosés . The colors are magnificent and the aroma seems very promising.

The whites are slowly finishing their co-fermentation in barrels and are slowly completing the fermentation of the sugars. The colors are bright, the lively and clean wines have excellent aging potential and are already very pleasant to taste . The next 6 months in barrels will allow the full expression of the aromatic potential of these very great wines.

At the end of a year of precise work in the vineyard, all of our teams, reinforced by the entire seasonal harvesters, have contributed together to the achievement of the 2020 vintage which promises to be exceptional.