What a fascinating time to visit Château Yquem, Pierre Lurton gave us the low-down over lunch today on the 2009. Of course wearing his 2 hats; Cheval Blanc and Yquem it was a great insight into the peculiarities of the vintage – every year has them.

2009 has been exceptionally dry and hot here. What a change from 07 and 08 where is was the fabulous Indian summer in September and October that saved the harvest. This year it is the late rains that are saving the day – just to keep us on our toes.

For the reds it was almost too hot and dry, the reds love the sun for the ripeness but lack of water can shut down the maturing process of the skins so sugar can increase but at the expense of polyphenolic complexity. This could mean that there will be alcohol and extractable tannins but a lack of complexity.

So the rains at the end of August and then again 10 days ago saved the day for the reds, allowing the complex maturing of the skins to kick in. The harvest saved by the rain – that makes a change!

At Yquem they have already harvested a first selection. They have picked some ripe grapes that have been affected by passerillage i.e. a drying of the grapes by the action of heat and wind without the effect of Botrytis. The team at Yquem, under the guidance of Sandrine Garbay, decided on a first selection of these grapes over a week ago in the interest of keeping the particular style of these grapes especially their higher acidity which can add freshness and complexity if used in the final blend.

The real deal will begin any minute now; tomorrow or Friday – watch this space. And given the degree of ripeness and the fantastic development of Botrytis since the rain a few passages should do it. He has his 200 pickers on standby. I’ll go back to morrow and check out if they have started.