vintage 2012: Yquem harvest October 2012

Suspense for the Sweet Wine Chateau Yquem 2012

The vintage is good ,despite the bad weather conditions of the past year which was not the best for the vine cycle and growth like it was for the 2005 vintage Early this month the harvest for this extraordinary wine from the Sauterne, started this year on the 1st of October. This was the latest harvest in the past 20 years. However this is not an indication for the 2012 vintage qualities and this late harvest is not a problem. In the last few years Chateau Yquem started the picking earlier and this did not affect the quality .The truth is the grape picking could only start 100 days after the first flowers, after this dead line it is down to each individual property to choose when to harvest. The trick is, wait for the vines to be ready and to pick up the grapes under dry conditions.

In Chateau Yquem, Francis Mayeur the technical director makes the decision, however the harvest time for this sweet wine which is made to perfection is one of the latest in the Bordeaux area.Since their Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion grapes are both infected by the Botryis or “Noble Rot” call “Pouriture Noble” which is to developed this high sugar concentration wanted To develop the “Noble Rot” some moist is needed and that was a miss in August in the Sauterne area, Bordeaux, France. And that is why the harvest starting date for the Chateau Yquem is different for each vintage and this year the picking was late.To make wine today is science and in the early stages of this Chateau Yquem 2012 ,it is very hard to say how good the wine will be but one thing is for sure the vintage 2012 production will be down .