Two days ago, Christian Seely – the managing director of AXA Millésimes, and therefore in charge of a number of wine estates, including Pichon Baron, Petit Village and Suduiraut in Bordeaux – wrote a blog post on his thoughts of the 2013 vintage. Today, Aymeric de Gironde, director of Château Cos d’ Estournel gives us his opinion of this 2013 vintage.
Aymeric de Gironde: “The 2013 vintage at Cos d’Estournel is particularly important for me: this is my first vintage as director of the château so I am emotionally attached to this 2013 vintage. This year was rather complicated. But, thanks to the technical team led by Dominique ARANGOITS, with Dominique Castaing and Angélique Meynieu in the winery and Michel Sementry for the vineyard, we have put all our efforts in this vintage. We have been able to make the most out of this situation in order to have a wine that will reach the expected level for Cos d’ Estournel, in terms of power and elegance. It is certain that the selection done in the vineyard and our knowledge, plant by plant, helped us to face this somehow hostile nature and to harvest high quality grapes.”
“You need a great technical team to conduct a vineyard, but also a visionary owner who empowers you to go even further. During the harvest, I had the unwavering support of Mr Reybier who told me : ” Do not hesitate to put all the efforts you need in order to make the best wine possible. ” This gave additional confidence to the team this year and allowed us to make a drastic sorting in the vineyard. You can feel it after the first tastings: we have very precise wines , very pure, with a nice freshness, that are in line with the level of quality obtained over the last 15 years. Every year, regardless of the weather conditions, Cos d’Estournel must make a wine at the level of its reputation and at the level of Cos d’Estournel wine lovers’ expectations.”
“For those who still have doubts about this vintage, I will be particularly proud to show our wine during the En primeurs campaign. I read many ill-informed articles about the 2013 vintage. You can’t summarize a vintage only to difficult climatic conditions. To make shortcuts is unacceptable for me, it is somehow a denigration of our work and of our ability to face difficulties. Today, criticisms without any prior tasting hurt me and all the people who have worked all year long to produce something great. If I was a bit worried in October as some of you were , today I have to say that I have absolutely no doubt anymore.”
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