Harvest Reports
2003
"The vintage of the century"
Since our first harvest at Château Capion (1996) we have consistently experienced extreme harvest conditions. The current dry weather cycle has lasted for several years. Still, I would rate the 2003 vintage as the most extreme experience I've had to date.
We began harvesting white grapes early on August 23rd and completed the process by the end of the month. The red grape harvest followed on September 1st. As it happened, we managed to complete harvesting of the Merlot, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon on the same day - and all fully ripe. Usually Merlot and Grenache are early. The Cabernet Franc and Syrah somewhere in the middle and Cabernet Sauvignon at least two weeks behind the Merlot and Grenache. I am sure the conditions prevailing during the 2003 vintage evolve only once every 100 years. So, I guess it would be correct to refer to it as the vintage of the century!
The first Syrah grapes of "Haute Juge" were handpicked with great success. This got us thinking and we decided that we would handpick all the old Syrah vineyards from next year on, limiting damage and providing us with more of each vintage. On Friday, September 5, we finished the harvest - only 14 days after we started and only 10 minutes before the first rain arrived.
Because of the warm, dry conditions all the grapes were healthy with very small berries, but hardly any or very little juice. The phenolic ripeness was in fact there before the sugar ripeness, resulting in smooth and warm tannins.
Skin contact of 4 weeks was not a problem at all. The fermentation went easy with less plunging but more pumping over. The quantities per ha. are very low and the vineyards like Viognier and Syrah were down to less than 40% of a normal year. This will have an effect on quantities, and cases will be scarce!
As far as quality is concerned, I'm hesitant to pick out a special wine at this stage. But I will mention that when a vineyard yields less than 40% per ha., one has to consider the concentration of the juice. At this moment the Syrah is somewhat ahead of the others - but I would prefer to postpone judgment until release of the full 2003 vintage.
Having my origins in a dry country (South Africa), I was able to call on my experience to make quick decisions and choose the correct options. Still, I have learned and reflected a great deal on the unique French 2003 season.
