Château Carbonnieux Vintage 2013

CHÂTEAU CARBONNIEUX Grand Cru Classé de Graves Pessac - Léognan

VINTAGE 2013

Château Carbonnieux in a few words…

Classified growth in both red and white Appellation Pessac-Léognan Surface area of the vineyard : 92 ha Red : 50 ha White : 42 ha Soil : Hillock of Garonne River gravel drained by the Eau Blanche Stream (White Water), an affluent of the Garonne Environmental-friendly management, sustainable agriculture Red : Deep gravel and clay White : Clay/gravel and clay/limestone Average age of vineyard Red : 27 years White : 30 years Hand Picking Grape sorting : In the vineyard then in the vat cellar Aging : Red : traditional barrels, 15 to 18 months White: Oak vats and barrels, 10 months, with stirring of the lees Second labels : La Croix de Carbonnieux, white and red Château Tour Léognan, white and red Owners : The Perrin family since 1956

2013, a vintage full of surprises...

2013 is not like any other previous year.

A cold and stormy spring, a very sunny summer and delayed maturity of the grapes.

Late harvest, similar to those of the 80s or earlier.

Extremely low yields (the lowest since 1991), but we cannot complain since we were spared by the frost and the hail storms that damaged (an understatement?) a large number of properties in the region.

If 2013 gave cause for worry during the flowering, a steady sun and no summer rain saved the vintage in quality, if not in quantity.

VITICULTURE TECHNICAL DATA (Léognan) RAINFALL AND TEMPERAUTURE 2013

mm

T°C 50,00

230 220

30,47

210

210

45,00

200 190 180 170

27,34

40,00

169

24,36

160

35,00

22,20

150

21,07

140 126,5

130 120 17,61

100

100

9,52

61,5

13,31

12,07

10,17

40 30 10

20,00

16,77

66,5

70

16,00 86

14,66

80

20

25,00 14,00

91,5

87,5

90

50

113

17,90

110

60

30,00

59,7

12,45

10,75

34

7,76

6,13

15,00 10,00 8,00 6,00

3,99

3,03 0,96

0 Janvier

Février

5,00 0,00

Mars

Avril

Mai pluie

Juin

Juillet

T°mini moyenne

Août

Septembre

Octobre

Novembre Décembre

T° maxi moyenne

A few dates : April 1st : Bud break begins, after a mild and rainy winter.

April 15 : 2-3 leaf stage for the Merlot and Semillon ; bud break begins for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.

April 25 : Green pruning starts on the Sauvignon Blanc and continues until mid-May for the red varieties.

May 15 : Suppression of vine shoots begins. Selective thinning starts and we notice that the growth is slow (due to a drop in temperature).

June 3 : The growth remains slow and considerably delayed (about 3 weeks behind) compared to normal years.

June 10 : The flowering begins for the Merlot and gradually spreads over to the other varieties.

This is just when stormy showers made it difficult for the floral caps to fall off, causing “coulure” more particularly on the Merlot.

July and August : exceptionally sunny weather, with a few storms causing no harm at Carbonnieux.

However the vines are not catching up their growth delay.

September 16 : The harvest begins with the Sauvignon Blanc. It is the latest vintage since 1988.

PICKING & VINIFICATION By then we knew that, being late and difficult, the picking would have to take place during a short period of time. We hired more pickers and trained them for high-quality work, and we set up 2 reception lines in order to simultaneously collect the crops from 2 different plots. Exceptionally, we even picked (for the first time ever and over a period of several days) red and white grapes at the same time. The harvest lasted about 4 weeks non-stop, compared to six weeks on average.

WHITE Sauvignon : 80 maturity inspections Semillon : 12 maturity inspections Average fermentation : 9 days After fermentation, the average analytical values are : Harvest date 09/16 to 10/01

No. of batches 27

Yield 32 hl/ha

% Alc 12.6

pH 3.17

VA* 0.15

*VA = Volatile Acidity

Specificities of this vintage : The 2013 vintage, like most late-vintage years, is favorable to the production of excellent white wines.

The acidity levels dropped late and the skins remained rather thick. This encouraged us to shorten the time of maceration in order to limit the oxidation of the tannins.

The resulting batches are very pure, with a lovely aromatic freshness. The low yields, especially pronounced for the old vines, allowed the grapes to be picked at their optimum ripeness.

The fermentation took place under excellent conditions.

RED Merlot : 44 maturity inspections Cabernet Sauvignon : 24 maturity inspections Average fermentation : 10 days After fermentation, the average analytical values are : Yield Harvest date No. of batches 20 33 hl/ha 09/27 to 10/15

% Alc 12.6

pH 3.55

VA* 0.15

Specificities of this vintage : The sum of temperatures in 2013 obliged us to wait until the last moment to pick quality grapes. The weather in September, which alternated between sun and rain, accelerated the ripening process but made unstable sanitary conditions, especially for the merlots. We decided to enlarge AVour teams by 30% in order to start the selection in the vineyard and optimize the double sorting in the vat cellar.

Once in the vats, the anthocyanins were a bit harder to extract due to the thickness of the skins. This year it was also preferable to limit as early as possible the pumping over, in order to avoid too much astringency and keep the fruitiness of the wine while maintaining a nice and round tannic structure.

WINE MAKING and 1st TASTING WHITE Put in barrel between 09/26/13 and 10/08/13 New wood : 25% First comments and perspective : The nose is very expressive and typical of Sauvignon especially those grown on limestone soil, which gives it a distinct minerality.

On the palate the attack is very smooth, and the Semillon brings body mid-palate. Well defined acidity that brings out the very delicate subtlety so specific to Carbonnieux. The aromatic spectrum of the Sauvignon is complete, ranging from passion-fruit to flint which gives this vintage a great complexity.

The length is remarkable.

RED Put in barrel between the 11/21/13 till 01/08/14 New wood : 30% First comments and perspective : At the beginning of the aging, the nose has the fruitiness very characteristic of young wines which are still in an anaerobic environment. Aromas of red berries, somewhat peppery.

On the palate, the attack is frank. The wood needs to blend in with the tannic structure, still dominant but not astringent. Vintage 2013 has character. On the finish the fruit brings a certain delicacy and length. The first tastings allow us to expect a vintage on par with the great classic Bordeaux, like 2008, rich in fruit, structured and long.

BLENDING WHITE

Sauvignon

Sémillon

Château Carbonnieux

65%

35%

La Croix de Carbonnieux

70%

30%

Château Tour Léognan

80%

20%

Grand Cru Classé de Graves

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

70%

25%

5%

La Croix de Carbonnieux

45%

45%

5%

Château Tour Léognan

55%

35%

10%

RED Château Carbonnieux

Grand Cru Classé de Graves

Petit Verdot

5%

TASTING NOTES

CHATEAU CARBONNIEUX

Chemin de Peyssardet - 33850 Léognan Tél: 05 57 96 56 20 - Fax: 05 57 96 59 19 Email: info@chateau-carbonnieux.fr Site Internet: www.carbonnieux.com