2012 Feytit Clinet Pomerol a Great Vintage for Merlot!

Jeff Leve Since you took over managing Chateau Feytit, things have been steadily improving for you. Can you compare 2012 Feytit Clinet with any previous vintage?

Jeremy Chasseuil “At this stage of development, it seems like 2008. This is because of the lateness of the vintage. We also find a similar density and great balance in the wine.”

Jeff Leve With the late vintage, did you have any specific issues in the vineyards with the 2012 Feytit Clinet growing season?

Jeremy Chasseuil “This year we had to be very careful with rot and oidium.  Also, Botrytis started at the beginning of October. That was not such a problem as the Merlot was ripe and ready to be picked.”

Jeff Leve Did you also suffer from uneven flowering in your Pomerol vineyards? If so, what steps did you take?

 Jeremy Chasseuil “For the 2012 Fetit Clinet growing season, we made two green harvests.  The first took place when the grapes began to change color, and we did a second green harvest later in the season to remove any unripe berries.” 

Jeff Leve We covered the uneven flowering problems, What about vine stress from the drought?

Jeremy Chasseuil “With 2012 Feytit Clinet we had to be careful with issues from hydric stress.  We were lucky because we experienced a lot of rain at the start of the 2012 Bordeaux growing season. But after that, the summer was dry.”

Jeff Leve Did this cause you much more work?

Jeremy Chasseuil “This year I worked all the soils of our Right Bank property differently than usual.”

Jeff Leve For example?

Jeremy Chasseuil “Well, for example, we did not plant grass between the rows this year. We wanted to reserve all the water for the vines.”

Jeff Leve Which of your terroirs performed best?

Jeremy Chasseuil “The gravel soils with clay at 1 meter depth were the best for us.”

Jeff Leve When did you start and finish harvesting 2012 Feytit Clinet?

Jeremy Chasseuil “We began picking Merlot October 3 and finished with Cabernet Franc October 12.”

Jeff Leve Was this just before the rains?

Jeremy Chasseuil “Yes, we were very lucky. We picked under good conditions and no rain during harvest.”

Jeff Leve With rain in the forecast, did you end up picking earlier than you had originally hoped?

Jeremy Chasseuil “I would have liked to wait 3 or 4 days more for my Cabernet Franc. But for the Merlot, it was not a problem.”

Jeff Leve How many pickers and sorters did you employ?

Jeremy Chasseuil “We brought in 11 pickers and 12 people to work with us on our double sorting for the 2012 Feytit Clinet.”

Jeff Leve “Did you need to spend more or less time on sorting this year?

Jeremy Chasseuil “We spent less time on sorting during the harvest  because there were less green or  rotten berries this year.”

Jeff Leve What are your yields with the 2012 Feytit Clinet?

Jeremy Chasseuil “We are at 34 hectoliters per hectare with the 2012 Bordeaux vintage.”

Jeff Leve Do you have a preference over the Merlot over the Cabernet Franc this year?

Jeremy Chasseuil “The Merlot will be great in this vintage!” 

Jeff Leve What are your alcohol levels?

Jeremy Chasseuil We are close to 14 % this year.”