Château Méric
19, Route de Vensac - 33590 Jau-Dignac-et-Loirac
Tél. : + 33 (0)5 57 75 01 55
19, Route de Vensac - 33590 Jau-Dignac-et-Loirac
Tél. : + 33 (0)5 57 75 01 55
The Chateau Méric « 1868 » is a selection from the best of the Chateau Méric 2012 vintage.
The selection (Prise bois) is made in the vast (during the fermentation and vatting) then it's brought on for 24 months in 400 litre barrels (demi-muid). The team at Chateau Méric have been able to develop this splendid vintage, which mixes the red fruit flavour of the black Merlots and the beautiful structure and freshness of the Petit Verdot, thanks to work based on the theories of reasoned farming, the soils Garonne gravels, a privileged exposition and the aging in French oak.
Despite a difficult spring, the wonderful late summer of the 2012 vintage enabled the grapes to ripen well, with beautiful colours. The yield was fairly low in this year. The result was a superb concentration and an excellent conservation together with a very expressive taste in this 2012 vintage of the Chateau Méric « 1868 ».
The buds came as usual at the beginning of April, but the particularly cool and damp weather meant that the vine didn’t progress at this stage, initiating a very wide range of development. The warmth of May improved the vines’ growth, but the flowering went on until June.
Right up to July the weather stayed cool, leading to a particularly late development. This trend was reversed at last with the hottest August since 2003! The ripening spread over the whole month. The hydrological situation quickly worsened and the ripening conditions were perfect. The berries are very concentrated, rich with colour and tannins, especially as the yield was low that year.
The 2012 vintage was a late one. The harvest and the ripening were concentrated in the same week between the 7th and 14th October. The grapes were harvested mechanically, as each plot reached optimum ripeness, but sorted manually.
This traditional work is now done with modern oenological and technological material. The fermentations take place in thermo regulated stainless steel tanks, at quite high temperatures between 28/30°C to extract all the colour and flesh from the fruit. The marc needed working on, the extraction was intensive as the fruit was of high quality and ripe. Maceration after the alcoholic fermentation, vatting for between 3 and 4 weeks. Malolactic fermentation in wooden casks.