HARVEST
from October 4 to 14, most of it hand picked
FERMENTATION
alcoholic in open barrels (50% of the harvest), malolactic in barrels (100%)
MATURING for 13 months in barrels, 41% of which are new oak
BLEND
Cabernet-Sauvignon 38%, Merlot 51%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Petit Verdot 1%
PRODUCTION
34 000 bottles
Alc. vol. 13,5% vol.
Château Hourtin-Ducasse 2016
Sensuality
MENTIONS
Wine Enthusiast's Editor's Choice, rated 91
Rated 91 in sample on barrel by Wine Enthusiast
Rated 90 by Gilbert & Gaillard
A silver medal at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2018, in Hong Kong
A bronze medal at the 2019 Independent Winegrowers competitions
A silver medal at the Féminalise 2019 competition in Paris
Bronze medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2019 in London
THE SEASON
It all started with a winter without cold or frost; not enough to sanitize the soil, rest the plants and stop any inclination to grow too early. Spring brang record rainfall and late blight appeared in late May; a precise and targeted fight (accompanied by a little luck) made it possible to protect oneself from it. Since the end of June, a big blue sky, pleasant temperatures during the day and cool at night allowed the vines to develop comfortably with a regular and homogeneous growth. At the end of July, the vines were magnificent despite the water deficit resulting from the total absence of rain in this month (unprecedented in Bordeaux); the excess water at the start of the year probably helped protect against water stress. The drought in August caused delays in maturity and great disparity within the same cluster, observable in a sight! The 30-40mm of water in mid-September allowed the ripening cycle to restart but you had to wait, wait, wait ... until the beginning of October so that the bunches finally had homogeneous maturities. The harvest began on October 4 with the Merlot, then the Cabernet-Sauvignon and the Cabernet Franc picked up for Les Roses de Marie on October 5 and 6. A week later, some plots of Cabernet-Sauvignon and the Petits Verdots for Château-Hourtin-Ducasse were picked up. And finally, it was by machine that we quickly finished on October 13 and 14, just before the thunderstorms. It esulted in high degrees for the whole harvest, very nice colors for the Merlots, thick skins for the Cabernets-Sauvignons and already a lot of length for the Cabernets Francs. Half of the harvest was put in vats, the other half in barrels as soon as the alcoholic fermentations to valorise the fruit more efficiently.
It was heating up, and yet ...
TASTING
Quite sustained shiny color.
Fruity nose (ripe red fruits), smoky, sweet spices (turmeric, saffron), floral, complex. The nose develops with air: ripe fruits, mentholated, fine vanilla, melted wood.
Fleshy mouth, long, full. Good tannic structure. Fine substance.
Brightness. Good airiness. Stylish.
Harmonises with: duck terrine with hazelnuts, carpaccio of duck breast (coarse salt and olive oil), Milanese risotto, beef cheek stew, lamprey, comté cheese, pear with wine...