2012 Vintage at the GARNIER & sons Wine Estate

The 27th of September 2012 marks the return of a normal harvest commencement, compared with the preceding years. The first snips of shears began under a sunny sky on the bought premier and grand cru parcels. This harvest was followed by the hand-harvest on our domain, before beginning on Monday October 1st the machine-harvest of the Petit Chablis on Lignorelles. On Friday the 12th of October our Chardonnays surrendered their last clusters...

This year will have been exceptionally laborious, with unforeseen climatic conditions. Hailstorms, frost, coulure, rain and heat waves had us twice as vigilant this summer and doubled our time spent in the vineyard. In the end, the harvest was as healthy and as uniform per usual thanks to a rain-free month of August. All of the above mentioned factors resulted in a considerable drop in domain production with a low 42-hectolitre average per hectare.

The perfect-on-paper, analytic balance proves that this year will be an exceptional vintage. Currently the wines are in the fermentation stage. Alcoholic fermentation has not yet finished whereas the malolactic fermentations are almost at a close.

Fermentation, as often, will last for about three months.

Although at this stage in time it is difficult to compare this vintage with another, we think that it will be unique. With a distinct Chablis character, 2012 seems to be a perfect mix between the 2008 and 2010 vintages.

News

2012 welcomed a new partnership with the barrel makers Stockinger, introducing a new oak provenance (Germany or Austria) and different toasting nuances to our production, while remaining loyal to Doreau and Taransaud with whom we have worked for a number of years now. Our wines’ character also comes from our different barrel makers.

2012 was also marked by our decision to orient our winemaking towards using large-capacity wood casks such as the half-hogshead (600L) and to increase our percentage of oak ageing. For the time being, the oak ageing concerns our two premier crus « Mont de Milieu » and « Montmains » having an assemblage of 70% from half-hogshead oak casks and 30% from stainless steel vats.