Chateau
Patache d’aux
2015

Chateau
Patache d’aux
2015

bouteille-chateau-patache-d-aux
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Climatic conditions

With favourable weather conditions and good water recharge during the winter of 2015, budburst was frank and balanced. A hot spring provoked fast, equal flowering with sound fruit set, regular bunches and little overcrowding. Summer was marked by intense, early heats and long periods of drought, causing rapid deterioration of varietal and pyrazine-type aromas, without inducing significant over-heating. The vintage was also marked by low temperature variations and hot nights, unfavourable to anthocyanin accumulation during maturing. The hot summer also saw a few rainy episodes, enabling the ripening process to evolve. In September, the Bordeaux region was hit by a series of very heterogeneous rainfall episodes. In northern Médoc, rains were particularly heavy in mid-September as harvest approached. This significantly boosted berry growth and diluted tannin and colour potential. Compared to previous vintages, the vintage showed remarkably low acidity levels, inducing softness in the wine, even where extraction during vinification was intense.

Vintage presentation

The 2015 vintage, considered a great vintage in Bordeaux, was more moderate in northern Médoc, due to very heavy rainfall during harvest: this induced dilution of phenolic compounds and accelerated harvesting in traditionally late, clay-type zones, where grape profile was sometimes under-ripe. The Patache d’Aux 2015 vintage was nevertheless very interesting, less concentrated than that of 2014, and with lower cellar potential (10 years), but much more approachable when young.

From the vine to the glass

Harvesting at Château Patache d’Aux ran from September 15th to October 1st, with an acceleration in the late Cabernet Sauvignon harvest due to a sudden heavy rainfall-induced botrytis outbreak.

Fruit entering the cellar was dense but diluted by the heavy rainfall at the start of harvesting, thus requiring significant run-off juice collection to ensure high concentration of phenolic compounds. Low acidity and already very silky tannins (due to intense summer heat) allowed for thorough extraction on the Merlot, by pumping over and racking, with long vatting periods of over 4 weeks. The late Cabernet Sauvignon however, with slightly hard, crisp tannins, underwent extremely gentle extraction by simple pumping over, with vatting of 3 weeks maximum.

Patache d’Aux was matured for 12 months, with 90% in French oak barrels with 1/3 new barrels, 1/3 one-wine barrels and 1/3 two-wine barrels. 10% was kept in vat for optimal preservation of the fruit’s freshness and crispness.

Tasting

The climate in the northern Médoc was quite different from that in the rest of the region. In particular, the season was cooler and wetter. The 2015 at Patache is a powerful wine with great freshness; aromas of fresh fruit and notes of empyreum and pepper on the nose and palate. In its youth, there was a strong influence of wood, which has now melted away and blended with the natural tannins of this powerful, well-structured wine to produce a very long finish. Possible ageing of 15 to 20 years, it will be drunk at its peak between 2022 and 2028.

Concours de Bordeaux – Médaille d’or
Concours Mundus Vini – Médaille d’argent
Concours des Vinalies nationales – Médaille d’argent
Concours des grands vins de France de Macon – Médaille d’argent
DECANTER World Wine awards – Médaille d’argent
Andreas Larsson, Tasted – 91 pts

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