2023 Vintage Report “Le millésime des vignerons diligents” Without doubt, the plentiful yet drought-affected 2022 harvest had helped to replenish the stock shortage left by the frost-ravaged 2021 vintage. Nevertheless, every grower in the Loire Valley desperately needed the 2023 harvest to be both bountiful and qualitative. In the most general sense, this wish has been realised across the region and all appellations and 2023 is without doubt a very generous harvest, which will provide good to excellent quality wines from the best producers, but careful selection and blending will be key in some appellations. We see a return to a more “ligérien” style of wines with more freshness and slightly lower alcohol levels and good, balancing PHs, despite slightly lower acidity. Fortunately, late spring proved to be almost frost-free, although there were pockets of vines that were lightly touched – but nothing compared to previous years. Late May and early June were warm, sunny, and dry and provided perfect conditions for flowering, at which point it was clear that yields were likely to be more than healthy. However, late June onwards saw the arrival of hot and humid weather with significant rain and with this came the threat of mildew. Most of our growers were extremely proactive in their spraying programmes with treatments often running into double figures and thankfully, this stopped the mildew in its tracks. However, driving through the vineyards up and down the Loire, it was blindingly obvious which vignerons were less attentive and have harvested next to nothing. Picking started in early September in most appellations and was mainly finished by the end of the month although it continued into October for the reds of Chinon and Saumur Champigny and some dry Chenins and some late-picked grapes were harvested towards the end of the October. The harvest in Muscadet took place in almost perfect conditions with lots of sun and warm temperatures – there was even a period of four nights in September where daytime temperatures were in the mid-30’s and only dropping to around 23ºC at night. Yields do vary across the appellation but average around 45 hl/ha with PHs around 3.3 to 3.45 and total acidities between 4.0 g/l and 4.8 g/l. The wines show lovely purity and minerality with plenty of citric freshness. Anjou is potentially one of the most challenging appellations in the Loire and certainly Chenin Blanc is the varietal that suffered the most from the growing conditions. Where yields were not been controlled, growers were struggling to harvest at anywhere north of 9% potential alcohol. Fortunately, we don’t work with these people! “Piqure Acétique” also led to acid rot in some vineyards but quality-conscious growers removed these bunches before harvesting to preserve the good quality fruit and still had healthy yields with potential alcohol between 11.5% and 12.5%. The wine we have tasted are clean and show no signs of acid rot, so their hard work has paid off. Growers in Chinon, Bourgueil and Saumur/Saumur Champigny generally had smiles on their faces. The whites were a little more complicated in Saumur with the Chenin succumbing to acid rot which needed removing before harvest. In addition to this it was difficult to reach full maturity before the need to pick, so most wines are around 11.0%. The quality of the reds across the appellations is fantastic. Alcohols ended up around 13% exhibiting a “Ligérien” freshness with full maturity (TA 3.5 g/l). Tannins are round and ripe for those who had the patience to wait until the beginning of October before harvesting and they have been rewarded for their efforts (and lack of fingernails) as the resulting wines are bursting with fruit and depth of flavour. Also, the whites harvested after 1st October will be stunning with alcohol around 13% and perfectly balancing acidity around 4.6 g/l.
CHARLES SYDNEY WINES LTD., 1 ROMAN FARM, NETTLEDEN, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HERTS, HP1 3DA, UK TEL FRANCE: +33 (0) 6 48 50 83 20 TEL UK: +44 (0) 7889 360795 VAT : GB 246093308 REGISTERED IN ENGLAND AND WALES: 10275355 REGISTERED OFFICE: 1 ROMAN FARM, NETTLEDEN, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HP1 3DA, UK