Maison Tardieu Laurent - Châteauneuf du Pape - Vieilles Vignes 2003

The vintage

Autumn and winter 2002-2003 were especially rainy… Heavy rains have given the soils these water reserves that are so necessary to the vegetative growth of the Vines.
The water reserves will decrease rapidly : spring and summer 2003 are very hot and dry. From the beginning of March till the end of August, the sun shines, the heat is unusually high, the rains are more than rare.
Where the Vines do not lack water, these conditions are optimal to get top quality berries- perfectly healthy. At each stage of the Phenolic development, the observations announce a high Quality crop. The long - lasting heat wave has resulted everywhere in a swift concentration of the sugars in the berries - 15 days earlier than 2002. On the other hand, an extreme shortage of water could impede the maturing of the skins with a negative impact on the colour, tannins, and aromas …
Only the old vines, deeply rooted into the soil, with a limited number of bunches to nourish, have been able to provide enough water for the berries to achieve - naturally - an ideal maturity. And only the most careful and patient Vignerons have waited till their Vineyards - benefiting of the rains fallen beginning of September - could express the full Phenolic and aromatic potential of their crop.
In any case, 2003 Vintage is under the sign of the sun, the sun which, by the way, has taken its share of the crop : the yields are low, if the Quality is quite promising… After a few months élevage, the Wines display dark and intense colours, and a lot of power. The degrees are very high in the North as well as in the South, but the overall balance of the Wines
remains good.
As an ultimate clue, the length on the palate of some Cuvées is quite fascinating... Fat, powerful, the white Wines show a superlative potential : they might reveal to be the best white Wines ever produced by “Tardieu-Laurent”.

Terroir

Grès d'Orange, Courthézon, la Crau.

Ageing

Tronçais new and one wine barrels.