Vintage 2013
Weather Conditions
The harvest of 2013 proved to be a very difficult year, one of very low yields and of heartbreak as we watched our vineyards suffer from the beating of numerous hailstorms. It proved to be a year for the well-experienced vigneron, as Mother Nature did not discriminate, everyone in the region experienced difficulties in the vineyard and the best wines were salvaged through scrupulous fruit selection and intelligent winemaking.
The winter of 2013 was wet and cool and this weather continued all through the months of Spring. The important stage of 'flowering' of the vines requires warm (but not too warm), dry (but not too dry) and relatively stress-free conditions to be a success. Flowering in 2013 took place in very cool, wet and cloudy conditions and resulted in very few berries/bunch. Even at this stage we could estimate that our yields were dramatically lower than our already low 35hl/hectare average.
In June and again in July, large parcels of the Chambert vineyards were hailed and resulted in a further severe loss of yield. The wet and humid weather continued throughout the summer months and applied immense disease pressure on the remaining fruit. Leaf plucking on both sides of the canopy was essential to minimise this pressure.
The advantage of having less fruit/vine was that the fruit could sufficiently ripen in the cool and cloudy summer months. The harvest began the 10th of October, fruit sorting in the vineyard and again on the sorting table was imperative to ensure that only the cleanest, healthiest and ripest berries made their way into the winery.
Although rare in quantity, the wines Chambert wines of 2013 are good, and it all came down to the consistent and dedicated work of the vineyard team in the lead-up to harvest.
Quality of the Vintage: Average.