2012 Chateau La Clotte St. Emilion Vintage Harvest Report

Jeff Leve What steps are you taking this year during vinification and the elevage of the 2012 Chateau La Clotte?

Nelly Moulierac “Keep on doing with more and more meticulousness in the vinification process Now, each plot or micro plot has his own vat, and each parcel is worked according to its needs at Chateau La Clotte.  Also, due to the lateness of the 2012 Bordeaux harvest, it was easier to cool down the grape for the cold maceration before fermenting.”

Jeff Leve What are your alcohol levels with the 2012 Chateau La Clotte?

Nelly Moulierac “We are about 13.5% alcohol.” 

Jeff Leve Did you have problems with flowering in your Right Bank vineyards this year?

Nelly Moulierac “The flowering was difficult for the vines. With the 2012 Bordeaux growing season, we had a particular hard year.  We spent a lot of time working in our St. Emilion vineyards.  We and the vines became naturally stressful. But a little bit of stress is good, no?”

Jeff Leve What extra work did you need to this vintage?

Nelly Moulierac “We did very big job in the vineyard with green harvesting, thinning out the leaves and cleaning around each of the grapes. Therefore we didn’t have any serious problems. In fact, we were able to wait for a good maturity of the berries for the 2012 vintage.”

Jeff Leve Which of your terroirs would you say was the most successful?

Nelly Moulierac “Our limestone soils on the plateau did a very good at Chateau La Clotte.  But others also did well!”

Jeff Leve Do you think any variety performed better in this specific year?

Nelly Moulierac “Yes, the Merlot turned out quite well for us this year.”

Jeff Leve When did you start harvesting your Merlot?

Nelly Moulierac “We started harvesting October 18 and finished 4 days later with Cabernet Franc, October 22.”

Jeff Leve What were the conditions like for you during the harvesting of the 2012 Bordeaux vintage?

Nelly Moulierac “We harvested over 4 days and we had one very bad day of rain. It wasn’t fun. But we had the chance to work with very good, nice pickers! This is very important!”

Jeff Leve Speaking of picking, how many pickers did you employ?

Nelly Moulierac “We hired 12 pickers and 3 carriers.”

Jeff Leve How much sorting did you need to do with the 2012 Chateau La Clotte

Nelly Moulierac “We had a little to sort. But in general it was very nice. We’ve manage to pick ripe grapes without rot. We had less to sort this year than we did in 2011.”

Jeff Leve How many people did you hire the sort at La Clotte?

Nelly Moulierac “We have 8 sorters who work on long vibrating sorting tables. We are very happy about the results! Unfortunately, the sorting goes slower by hand. But we don’t need to go very fast. It is not like if we had 30 hectares.”

Jeff Leve How did the late harvest affect you?

Nelly Moulierac “In reality it did not affect us at La Clotte. We wanted to wait in order to have the best maturity for the berries. We are very happy about the quality of the fruit we picked. The last few days of the growing season give us more time to let the grapes develop riper tannins. We have been later in other vintages.”

Jeff Leve Did you purchase any new equipment or renovate your wine making facilities this year?

Nelly Moulierac “Yes bought a better thermoregulation system that lets us cool down or heat the vats better now.”

Jeff Leve What are your yields with the 2012 Chateau La Clotte?

Nelly Moulierac “We are close to 32 hectoliters per hectare.”