A Harvest Visit to Château Preuillac, 2012: Tasting Notes
During my walk in the vineyard with Frédéric and Nathalie I learnt something of how the ripeness of grapes can be judged. You might imagine that, these be modern ‘technological’ times, the first port of call might be some technical analysis, the most obvious being an assessment of sugar concentration. But for centuries before such equipment was invented ripeness was judged using the senses, and Frédéric told us of the signs to look for, some of which were obvious, some less so. I was expecting to hear all about the taste of the fruit, but simply looking at the bunches and how low they hang on the vine is another very simple guide; the sugar-rich fruit is naturally heavier, and thus the bunch hangs straighter and lower. I’m not suggesting that this is how the harvesting decision is made, but it was fascinating to be made aware of this visual change, not at all obvious to the untrained eye but nevertheless discernible once it was pointed out.
Mostly, though, the talk was of taste. In part the flavour of the juice was discussed, greener and more vegetal flavours being clear indicators that the fruit was not ripe. But this was by no means as simple as it sounds; many berries, here at Preuillac and at numerous other estates I visited during the same week – were not particularly rich in flavour, especially Merlots grown on lesser terroirs. Secondly, Frederic advised biting into the skin, and assessing its flavour as opposed to the juice, as well as gauging its thickness. This was in contrast to much of the advice elsewhere, which was to concentrate on the pips.
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