Bordeaux 2013 Primeurs: Le Retout
The story of the 2013 vintage is low yields, due principally to coulure and millerandage during spring, augmented by hail (depending on where you look), and of course rot and the necessary strict selections thereafter. It isn’t unusual to find vineyards giving just 10 hl/ha. Such figures are nothing new to Frédéric and Hélène Soual of Château du Retout though. Having established their white vineyard in 2008 the first harvest was in 2011, giving just 8.3 hl/ha, and 2012 wasn’t much more generous, giving about 8 hl/ha again. Happily things have picked up in 2013 as the vines have really started to bed in, and the yields for the latest harvest are a handsome 26.7 hl/ha.
The varieties planted are eclectic, and for those unfamiliar with the vineyard they are (I provide the contribution to the 2013 assemblage in brackets, not the area planted) Gros Manseng (41.5%), Sauvignon Gris (37%), Savagnin (13%) and Mondeuse Blanche (8.5%). They may not have the most exciting soils to work with – the land here is lightly gravelly at best – and so rather than soldiering on, producing another characterless Bordeaux Sauvignon-Semillon blend they have compensated with a mix of varieties that bring real interest to the wine. I applaud their courage in doing so; it shows Bordeaux is not all about these traditional varieties, and it also demonstrated that not everybody in Bordeaux is tied to appellations.
