1997 VINTAGE

Beautiful golden yellow colour

WEATHER DURING THE GROWING SEASON

The vines began to grow earlier than usual, but May was cool and rainy so flowering was spread out from May 5th-June 15th. The weather in August was very stormy, and a period of exceedingly high temperatures set in that lasted until late October. The weather in September and October was excellent, with prevailing easterly and south-easterly winds. Noble rot developed slowly, but steadily, thanks to the hot, dry weather and early morning mists.

HARVEST

The diversity of ripening (due to spread-out flowering) and damage caused by midges (which thrived in the hot August nights) made the harvest very complicated. The first wave of picking called for five days of hard work (September 15th-19th) to harvest the equivalent of 15 barrels of wine. The pickers subsequently went through the vines every ten days until the first frost on the morning of November 4th. It thus took a total of five waves to harvest the grapes, encompassing the complete range of ripeness and noble rot. This long vintage period is reflected in the complexity of the wine

THE WINE

Fermented and aged in barrel for three years Production: Under 15,000 bottles Alcohol: 13.5° Sugar: 115 g/l Acidity: 4.40 g/l