Vallée de la Loire
Vintage 2003
Scorching temperatures with rain in spring. Early harvest: it started on 27th August and finished on 13th September. Concentration high natural degree. Muscadet: well balanced but low acidity. Light wine easy to drink. Gamay very ripe, fruit-forward. Malvoisie well balanced because it was picked early to keep a bit of acidity.
Vintage 2004
Limited quantities available for Domaine Guindon. Drought no rain 16mm 1st July to 15th October. Harvest began 9th September and ended 7th October. Stress to a lack of water- difficulties for the berries to mature ? high natural alcohol degree. Muscadet balanced freshness and fruit. Gamay powerfull red fruit, very concentrated. Malvoisie balanced with good fruit.
Vintage 2004
Good balance between the structure and the fruit, great promises. Winter was long and spring was fresh and rainy, so 2004 was a classic year . Until mid-May, we feared frosts but it is hail that we got! It damaged a few parcels of the vineyards up to 30% of one parcel! From the end of May to the middle of June, The weather was great for the growth of the vine: peaks of temperatures accelerated the vegetal growth: the canopy was therefore important and the flowering was slightly ahead in comparison with previous years. August weather conditions ( high heat during daytime and night) stopped a number of grapes from developing properly. We expected a difficut harvest because of September drought but it started raining heavily and the potential quality stayed high. The winegrowers managed to cope with the changing weather. The reds are light, fruity , the intensity of their colour is medium and your palate will be charmed by their elegance and finess. Some beautiful vintages of Cabernet Franc are maturing to fully express themselves next spring. Everybody agrees that after the atypical 2003 vintage , the characteristics of the wines of Val de Loire are fully expressed in 2004 vintage and are the promise of a great future for these wines.
Vintage 2004
The harvest started on 21st September 2004 and finished on 13th October. The 3 week harvest period were carried out with a nice weather but it gradually changed the last few days. 2004 was a year of abundance and mainly of quality due to a very pleasant late summer. The alcoholic degrees were acceptable ( 11-12?c depending on the districts and grape varieties) All the efforts made to keep the yield low ( short pruning, debudding, plantation of grass around the stems) and increase the quality proved to be efficient that year. So the Touraine Sauvignon crops were picked with a total acidity of 5 g and with a good sugar ? acidity balance. 30% of the crop were macerated and were aged with their fine lies to increase the richness and the complexity of aromas before bottling. For the first time, we added enzymes in 2 vats at the end of the alcoholic fermentation without racking?; The ageing period with the lees was then accelerated. This trial was a huge success. For red wines, The Gamay Touraine are very supple and fruit-forward with a colour more intense than the average colour obtained the previous years due to a good maturity reached during the beautiful days of September. After an alcoholic fermentation of 6 days for the Gamay and 10 days for the Cabernet Franc and C?t , the malo lactic fermentation was triggered off without any problems, then the wine was racked off its lies and finally matured in casks waiting for a fining and a filtration before being bottled. The blending of the Cabernet franc and C?t gives an harmonious wine with supple tanins and ripe red fruit aromas. To conclude,2004 was an interesting vintage to vinify with a very beautiful raw material. Not as rich as the exceptional 2003 vintage but it is due to the winegrower?s expertise and riguour which made this 2004 vintage worth succeeding vintagge 2003.
Vintage 2005
A dry and hot summer, a healthy and early crop, a great vintage. For the Vallee de Loire, 2005 is one of the hottest and driest years for the last 30 years. The rather cool wintery temperatures and the lack of rain have favoured the vegetal growth. Then quickly came the flowering, in 8 days, around June 15th. There was 50% less of water in the vineyards and this figure will increase during summer with rainfalls of less than 1-3 degrees However the vine reacted positively and managed without water and the leaves didn?t suffer too much. The? relative? freshness of August allowed strong aromas to express themselves. September?s weather, exceptional, confirms the overall impression and the few millimiters of rain registered at that time permitted a perfect phenolic maturation. Under a beautiful sunshine we picked a ripe crop, particularly healthy due to the exceptional drought and consequently low threat of parasites and funghi. We note the presence of ?meligethe? , a small black coleoptere: its presence is the guarantee of a good ecosystem balance in the vineyard. The reds, with an excellent phenolic maturity and high sugar levels , keep the characteristics of our appellations with aromatic notes of freshness, fresh fruit notes dominating the stewed and cooked fruit notes. The reds are structured, rich and powerful with soft tannins with ripe red fruit aromas and sometimes with notes of spices. The harvest announced an exceptional vintage?. The result is in our cellars? to be tasted very soon!
Vintage 2005
2005 was a particularly sunny and dry year. August was gorgeous which permitted the grapes to grow healthy. The grapes matured quickly and at the same time thanks to a thin shower after a light storm. The harvest started on 15th September 2005 and ended on 5th October. The alcoholic degrees contai ned in all the grape varieties were exceptional. Between 12?65 and 13? , which is very rare for our area. The Sauvignon grapes reached their full maturity mid September and they had to be picked quickly so as not to let them too ripe and lose their aromas. This year, there was no need for a skin maceration as the musts were already too rich naturally. Today, after an alcoholic fermentation, thermoregulated at 16?C , the wines are aged on their fine lees with a few batonnages (the lees are stirred up) . The sugar-acidity balance is very satisfactory. Like the Sauvignon grapes , the Gamay, Cabernet and C?t were picked with very good alcoholic degrees permitting to obtain rich red wines with soft tanins. As soon as grape-picking was over , it started raining?! Who cares?! the crop was in the winery! To sum up, 2005 was an ideal year as far as the weather was concerned,?: with the right amount of rain and mostly with the sunshine permitting the grapes to ripen and give us rich, soft and well balanced wines.