Château Laniote 2017

Appellation Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé

A year full of surprises!! After two particularly qualitative vintages: 2015 and 2016, we were hoping for such a beautiful year …

After a mild and rather dry winter, budburst was very early: on April 1st, the buds began to hatch. A nice outing, regular, offered beautiful promises … However, the weather can be capricious and the end of April is always a delicate period: 21 April, frosts begin to affect some terroirs of Saint-Emilion, especially south of the city and in the North-West of the Appellation; our sector is spared. But these are just the beginnings! On the 27th, 28th and 29th of April, the cold returns to the whole region and no one is spared … Saint-Emilion is affected on more than 80% ! Our plots, located on a clay-limestone croup East-West oriented are very little affected, and it’s only on Thursday the 28th.

The vines, frozen or not frozen, have undergone such a stress that they block the shoot and for about 3 weeks nothing moves. But then, they catch up and start to push with a tenfold energy … The hot, even canicular, alternative sunny and rainy periods, favor the recovery of vegetation. The vines are luxuriant, an abundant and deep green foliage promise a beautiful ripeness process and catch up the delay taken after the frosts, flowering 10 days in advance, the grape changing of color 2 weeks in advance: on August the 5th, it’s perfectly done. The frozen vines, meanwhile, have released new bunches of grapes of 2nd generation, but small and heterogeneous.

In Laniote, we made the choice to sacrifice these 2nd generation bunches, late, which would not be ripe at the same time as the first ones, from where a selective thinning from the 7th to August 12th in order to be sure that the harvesters pick only ripe bunches of grapes on unfrozen feet.

In conclusion, in Laniote, the 2017 harvest was of reduced quantity but gave a quality classic wine: it presents dark and dense glints, with a flattering and frank nose: very fruity aromas, floral hints with a roasted touch, boxwood and some woody characters. It is marked by a silky finish and tight tannins. The aging in barrels, with 45% of new barrels, brought him sweetness and harmony.
Blend: Merlot: 78%, Cabernet Franc 6%, Cabernet Sauvignon: 6%.
Potential of guard: 10 to 12 years.