2018 was a special year at Château L’Evangile, as it was the first vintage to be produced with organic certification.
However, the weather conditions proved to be challenging. The ten-day flowering period was particularly nerve-racking, with seven consecutive days of rain.
As a result of the heavy rainfall, mildew attacked the flowers, destroying a substantial proportion of the potential harvest.
Fortunately, from mid-July onwards, the weather improved, providing excellent ripening conditions until the harvests. This first year with organic certification yielded grapes of extraordinary quality, the best we have seen in the last 20 years.

This year, the frost forced us to carry out extraordinary selection within the plots, meticulously marking the vines affected by frost and those that had been spared, and this continued until the harvest, which required intricate sorting. A classic maceration of 30 days and promising blends in January have confirmed our impressions of a vintage with balance between great aromatic freshness, quality of tannins and length.

The year began with mild, rainy weather, and then gradually, as the months passed, proved to be exceptional.
The winter of 2016 was the warmest and rainiest ever recorded! Bud break took place at the end of March and mid-flowering was on 5 June. The summer was hot and very dry. Fortunately, the water reserves accumulated during the winter enabled the vines not to suffer any stress, but as a result yields at Evangile were quite low for this vintage. The grapes finished ripening in September in clement weather, with a little rain and cool nights, preserving the grapes’ freshness and producing an exceptional vintage.

Conditions during 2015 were ideal. After a fairly mild winter, the vines’ growth cycle started normally in early April. Spring brought fine weather with gentle temperatures and relatively little rain. Flowering was fast and uniform, promising a plentiful harvest. The summer was magnificent with well-above average temperatures in July and light showers just when they were needed, creating conditions in which the vines were able to flourish. A very hot August was followed by a superb September. Some rain arrived just before the harvests, allowing the grapes to reach a perfect state of ripeness, and making this a truly exceptional vintage.

Thanks to a mild, rainy winter, the vines’ growth cycle started two weeks earlier than the average for Bordeaux and bud break was in mid-March, which is unusual. A warm April was followed by a cool, wet May with occasional spikes of heat. Flowering at the beginning of June was very satisfactory and promised an early, high quality vintage. Alternating periods of rain and warmth then slowed growth and much of the advance was lost; July was cold and wet, August was cloudy and fairly cool. From the end of August, the region experienced an “Indian summer” with hot, dry weather until the end of October. It was the warmest September recorded for nearly a century…
As a result, the grapes were able to ripen gradually during September and October in the unusually mild conditions and the harvest was of excellent quality.

2013 was a complex year that generated a great deal of work in both the vineyard and the winery! The beginning of the year was cold and wet, resulting in a mixed flowering and significant quantitative losses due to flower abortion and uneven grape size. The summer then arrived with very high temperatures (over 43°C) and their natural consequence, i.e. very violent thunderstorms, that fortunately did not cause any damage to our vines. The grapes progressed very quickly, developing density. From the end of first week of September, the variable weather returned, with a mixture of very fine warm periods and rain storms.

A complex year with a lot of ups and downs! The beginning of the year was difficult with periods of intense cold and humidity, resulting in a mixed flowering and significant losses in terms of yields. The beginning and the middle of the summer saw some fine sunny periods but also brought high levels of humidity. Fortunately, conditions in August and September were excellent which enabled the grapes to ripen very satisfactorily, and to present good potential. Due to rain, the harvest was spread over three weeks; this was unusual, but ultimately gave satisfactory results.

2011 was characterized by a very dry winter and start to the spring. Barely 150 mm of rain during the first five months of the year: a record! High temperatures in April, May and June caused the vines to grow very quickly, resulting in the first flowers appearing remarkably early, at the beginning of May!
A cooler July gave the vines a chance to rest a little before an exceptionally hot August (with an average temperature of 31°C for the month). The grapes were harvested two weeks earlier than usual, and were of excellent quality with superb tannins. The Merlot was rich and dense, but the low rainfall during the summer seriously reduced yields. The Cabernet grapes were small, with thick skins, but of very good quality.

After a fairly wet winter, the fine weather arrived to stay in April. Conditions were ideal: hot and dry, with water reserves maintained by a few rainy spells in June and September, while high temperatures combined with cool nights enabled the grapes to ripen slowly and steadily.
The Merlot and Cabernet were thus excellent in terms of quality, but slightly lower in quantity compared to previous years due to the lack of rain during the summer. This is a very high quality vintage with beautifully ripened grapes and excellent expressions of tannins.

After a complex start to the growth season due to persistent damp conditions, fine weather finally arrived to stay at the end of June. The summer was hot and dry, punctuated in July, August and September with periods of light rain that prevented any water stress from developing. Fairly high day time temperatures combined with fine cool nights favoured slow ripening.
The Merlot developed very full flavour, with levels of ripeness and potential alcohol that are rarely reached.The Cabernet Franc grapes remained rather small with thick skins, which reduced the volume of the harvest but had a very positive effect on the quality, with excellent levels of ripeness and expression of tannins.

After a grey, wet spring, resulting in a late, problematic flowering (a huge amount of fruit failing to set, explaining the very low yield of 27 hl/ha), we had a dry, sunny July. An overcast August helped to preserve a fine freshness before wonderful weather in September and October enabled the grapes to fully ripen.

After a cold damp winter, the high temperatures in March and April were good for the start of growth. This was followed by a long, mild grey period, without extremes, which lasted until August and required increase technical surveillance. Fine weather stabilised at the beginning of September, enabling good, peaceful ripening of the grapes. This vintage is characterised by a year of 13 lunar cycles and a longer than usual growth cycle.

The mild spring was followed by lovely weather in July and quite a cool August. These conditions produced nicely ripened grapes with lots of freshness. At the beginning of September the sun came back in full force, bringing the phenolic maturity to a perfect finish.

The 2005 vintage will be remembered for its exceptional, almost unheard of weather conditions. Spring was warm, followed by an early drought in July, August and September giving the grapes exceptional richness in sugar and polyphenols. A great vintage was born!

The 2004 vintage was marked by moderate rainfall in the winter, lots of rain in spring and a dry, cool summer. The end of the season was superb, with fine dry weather in September and October resulting in remarkable phenolic maturity in the grapes.

This vintage was characterized by the exceptional heatwave during the first two weeks of August, with temperatures above 40°C, combined with low rainfall throughout the growth cycle. Delays in ripening during the summer resulted in very early harvests with very low yields. 

At the beginning of the year the weather conditions were average but improved towards the ripening period. The warm, dry winter was followed by a rather cold, rainy period during flowering which led to incidents of coulure and millerandage (poor fertilization with mixed size berries). Fortunately, the cold July and August were followed by a superb September: dry, hot and sunny with a north-east wind, enabling the ripening process to speed up. The sun shone throughout the harvests without a single drop of rain. The Merlot was picked from 25 September until 3 October. The Cabernet Franc was picked non-stop afterwards, and the harvests finished on the afternoon of the 4th.

2001 had a longer growing season than usual, with flowering taking place during the normal period, but with late, uneven ripening. The Merlot grapes were harvested between 25 September and 2 October, with rigorous selection due to mixed sized berries. The Cabernet Franc was harvested between 8 and 9 October under a fine autumn sun. 

We finished the century with a growing season just as early as in 1999. After a rainy spring, the summer was relatively overcast, but without much rain. During August, dry weather and heatwave temperatures resulted in the first Merlot being harvested on 15 September. The Cabernet Franc was not harvested until the 27 September, so that the grapes could fully ripen. This patient wait for maturity paid off in the form of a silky, supple grand vin. 

1999 was a typical year for our technicians. A lot of work was required in the vineyard throughout the year. High temperatures and regular rain resulted in excellent quality grapes.

Blossoming was early and uniform. We had beautiful weather in July, followed by a hot, dry August, and then a few welcome thunderstorms in early September. This weather made for a promising vintage. Rain on 15 September complicated the harvest, but by then the Merlot had either already been picked or was about to be.

In terms of weather, the year alternated between hot and dry conditions through to mid-April and May, causing an exceptionally early growing season. There were some tropical storms during the summer months. The Merlot harvest began on 9 September and continued for a month with several pauses to give the grapes time to fully ripen, helped by the sunny weather.

The August rains were the only worrying aspect of a year that was otherwise ideal in terms of weather. This rain did slightly disrupt the healthy development of the Merlot grapes, and we had to take this into account during the harvests.