AN EXCEPTIONAL 2005 VINTAGE !

2005 will go down in the history books as an exceptional year for the whole Bordeaux region, along with the legendary vintages of 1928, 1947 and 1959 etc …
All the necessary conditions were united to make the winegrower’s task an easy one! Mother Nature was at her most generous.

An ideal vegetation cycle :
A cool winter with a long spell of cold weather got things off to a good start by eradicating any diseases of the vine wood. (The average temperature in December was 2°C lower than the average for that month over the last 30 years.)
After particularly cold conditions over the first ten days of the month, March had average temperatures of 8 or 9°C, which is about 1°C below the March average between 1975 and 2004. Rainfall over the month was just 35 mm, against an average over the last 30 years of 69.9 mm. Low rainfall early in the season limits the risks of mildew and oidium, making for more harmonious development of the vines afterwards.
Budburst (1) began on 4 April and the following two months also had rainfall that was well below average.
Flowering was very short, lasting barely one week between 16 and 23 May, with particularly clement temperatures and very little rain, making perfect conditions for effective, uniform fertilisation of the vines. A short flowering period avoids the “green” flavours that come from grapes that have not been properly fertilised. By 14 June, the grapes were the size of peas.
The colour change (2) of the grapes started on or around 26 July, finishing at the beginning of August, once again with homogenous ripeness levels throughout the vineyard.

We started the green harvesting (3) on 26 July with a team of Chinese students who proved to be most meticulous in their work. The summer weather was reasonably hot, keeping the ripening process ticking along nicely.
The grapes were firm and dense with thick skins and lovely fruity flavours. The wine had high alcohol content and good balance with lovely complex aromas. They have started their second fermentation (malolactic fermentation) (4) and will be put into barrels soon.

Harvesting :
We picked the Merlot grapes from 23 to 29 September and the Cabernets from 11 October.

Vinification :
The vinification process took its time.The results of the analyses are every bit as remarkable as the results of tasting (confirming just how interesting the wines are).

Fougas Maldoror 2005 (89/91)
Quickly becoming my favourite Côtes de Bourg estate, Fougas-Maldoror's gorgeous 2005 reveals notes of chocolate, sweet cherry jam, smoke and barbecue spice. Medium to full-bodied, ripe and fleshy, it will offer beautiful drinking aver the next decade.
Robert Parker  The Wine Advocate April 2006