Château
Pichon Baron

Vintage conditions

The key was to prepare in advance for poor weather conditions and to keep active throughout the summer on leaf and crop thinning to improve the physiological condition of the vines. All these high-precision efforts were rewarded by the great quality of the fruit when the fine weather did eventually arrive towards the end of the season. The ripening process was slow and regular throughout September and October. All the indices were very high, with sugar content on a par with 2003 and 2005. Anthocyans were concentrated and the weight of the individual grapes surprisingly low.The grapes were picked in various phases at optimum maturity: from 24 to 26 September for the young Merlot vines, the old vines from 29 September to 8 October, then Cabernet franc from 6 to 9 October and finally, Cabernetsauvignon from 9 to 17 October.The cool, stable weather conditions delayed picking, and we made the most of the weekends to leave the grapes on the vines to ripen that much better. Sorting on arrival in the winery was highly meticulous to ensure perfect selection. Vinifications took place in ideal conditions with the harvest being very cold when it was brought in, which is always good for pre-fermentary maceration. Sugar content was even higher than estimated in the ripeness checks on the vines. The low berry weight made for excellent yet gentle polyphenol extraction, at between 25 and 27°C. Pumping over was concentrated on the first days of fermentation, while maceration was adapted to the gustatory profile of each plot of vines, with durations ranging from 14 to 25 days.