The 2018 Harvest

2018 was a complicated, unusual and varied vintage with extraordinary amounts of winter rain followed by a humid early growing season but an exceptionally long, hot, dry summer, which produced perfect harvest conditions. The potential for greatness was clear, despite the obvious early risk in such humid conditions of mildew, which was more widely spread than any other vintage this century. Achieving the correct balance was the key to success and the late cold spell in early spring and the continued cool nights made up for the mild winter and provided the acidity and structure needed to accommodate the intense fruit and alcohol. Ultimately, the result of individual estates success will be defined by the timing and delivery of their vineyard management decisions and the winemaking techniques applied. However, we consider that the wines produced at Château Séraphine in 2018 show great potential and much promise for the future. 

We commenced harvest on 19th September hand-picking the fruit at Plince into small baskets, which were then transferred to the winery where the fruit was carefully placed onto the first sorting table and then de-stemmed using our precision CUBE system. 

That was followed by a second selection by hand before passing directly into the fermentation tank. All of the fruit processing was done by hand and by gravity. 

We then continued harvest on 20th September, picking the parcel at Mazeyres and once again, the fruit was processed immediately. 

The average yield for the two parcels of vines was approximately 35hl/h which is regarded as fairly normal in Pomerol, although not all of the fruit will go into the Grand Vin.