As far as alcohol levels, “In 2012, we have precisely what we want at Chateau Margaux: We will be around 13%, rather 13.5% for the Merlot and 12.8% for the Cabernet Sauvignon.”

At the beginning of fermentation in the cellar, you can smell strawberries and the beautiful complexity of various red fruit and spice aromas.

The 2012 Pichon Lalande vintage is a mixture of issues we had to deal with. The season has been difficult in the vineyard. You can call 2012 Bordeaux a winemaker’s vintage.

The late harvest for 2012 Bordeaux might affect the en primeurs tastings. 2012 Bordeaux will have suffered from one month less of ageing in comparison with 2011 in April when the wines are shown to critics and buyers.

We finished picking on October 16. That makes 2012 Cos d’Estournel one of the latest harvest in the history of Cos d’Estournel. It was more than 4 weeks later than last year!

We have some vats of Cabernet Sauvignon with the same level of purity and structure we experienced in 2006. Perhaps coming after the 2005 vintage, consumers were not very interested in the 2006 vintage. Yet 2006 turned out to be one of the better vintages we’ve made at Chateau d’Issan!