The Magnificent Seven…
While the 2017 vintage began with a very dry winter, temperatures were very mixed, with a very cool January and a rather mild February. Thus, bud break began around March 20th for the earliest Merlots. By mid-April phenological stages were on average ten days ahead of 2016, similar to the vintage of 2014.
The last two weeks of April saw two episodes of heavy morning frost in the Bordeaux vineyard. However, thanks to the proximity of the Estuary, our red grapes were not affected and produced satisfactory yields.
The first flowers appeared ten days earlier than the average dates recorded over the past twenty years, and flowering and fruit set occurred in very favourable conditions. Early summer saw high temperatures while water stress became apparent, notably on the gravelly soils. However, this phenomenon was attenuated with the return of rain at the end of June.
The summer of 2017 particularly dry, relatively sunny but quite cool despite sporadic peaks in temperature, confirmed that the vintage would continue its early development through to harvest. Indeed, harvest took place between 18 September and 5 October, one week earlier than in 2016. With its deep garnet red colour and purplish-blue hues, Lynch-Bages 2017 offers a wonderful freshness, characteristic of the vintage. The attack is supple, rich, with a good volume. It expresses an aromatic palette of black and red fruit with spicy notes. The wonderful maturity of all our grape varieties has produced tannins of an excellent quality.
