Let the bells ring out – again

St-Emilion estate Château Angélus is enthusiastic in its praise of the 2010 vintage, but there have been words of caution for Merlot growers from other quarters.

The estate announced that while 2010 had been a dry year, there had been no extremes in heat wave fluctuations as in 2003.

As a result the vines had not suffered any illnesses and sunny days and cool nights throughout September, coupled with some much needed rain have led to small berries that: “Promise excellent concentration”.

The balance between sugar and acidity is “superb”, which, in the words of the château, will “enable these wines to age well”.

Finally, it was predicted that the very “highest hopes” for the vintage were once again permitted.

However, writing for the Berry Bros blog, Max Lalondrelle cautiously predicted: “It would be very unfair to generalise, but early signs show that the Merlot, once again, has failed to deliver.

“With a very fragile flowering season and a very dry summer, wines with a high proportion of Merlot will not, in most cases, be as great as last year.”

Right Bank wines in particular fall into this category and, as previously reported by the drinks business, there have been mixed reactions to the hot summer France has had this year and its effect on the harvest.

According to French newspaper Sud-Ouest, the potential alcohol level for much of the 2010 vintage is 14.5%.

Aside from plugging the next vintage, Angélus also announced its revamped sorting programme.

This year the bunches will be sorted and then sent through the latest de-stemming machines before the grapes pass under the optical sorting table – where unripe or otherwise imperfect berries are vaporised by a concentrated blast of air – and then finally sorted once more on a manual sorting table.

In addition, following on from last year’s re-introduction of manual de-stemming, approximately 150 people will be employed in sorting bunches for the equivalent of four or five vats compared to last year’s two.

This will account for nearly 30,000 bottles of wine, with an added charge of €2 per bottle.

Rupert Millar, 30.09.2010