Long Dai
The vintage
2020 was a cool vintage, characterized by a relatively rainy start to the season. This enabled water reserves to be replenished in the spring, and an early start to the vines’ growth cycle following an exceptionally dry year. However, the rain also resulted in an increased threat of disease, providing a considerable challenge for the technical team. Throughout the ripening period, the vines benefited from an excellent late season, allowing the grapes to slowly reach optimal maturity. The meticulous zoning work carried out according to the degrees of ripeness for each terrace resulted in the harvests being spread over a longer period. In order to harvest at the best time, we made up to five rounds of selective picking among the various plots. These began on 3 September and ended on 28 October, with a total of 25 full days of picking.
Location
Domaine de Long Dai is nestled at the heart of the Qiu Shan Valley in the Shandong Province in the North eastern part of China. The climate here is tempered by the influence of the Yellow Sea located a mere 20 km away. The region is highly dependent on agriculture and the milder winters combined with the granitic soils make it a place of interest to grow vines.
Terroir
The 34-ha vineyard is spread over 420 terraces, following the agricultural tradition in the region. This planting method respects both the landscape and the soil structure but also requires a lot of manual work as well as specially adapted machines. Everything has been organised to apply high-precision viticultural methods. Disbudding and green harvesting naturally reduce yields, allowing the grapes to reach full phenolic ripeness.
Winter in this region is dry and cold, but less severe than in other parts of the country. Building up soil around the feet of the vines is generally sufficient to ensure frost protection.
The summer is hot and includes a short period of rain in July and August, followed by two months of dry weather during the critical ripening period. The grapes do not ripen uniformly due to the terrace system, so the harvesting of each terrace is carried out in several passes to ensure that all grapes are picked at the optimum degree of ripeness.
Winemaking
This wine is produced using the traditional vinification methods for emblematic grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Controlled pumping over allows for gentle and respectful extraction of each cuvée to obtain a harmonious balance between tannic structure, roundness and length. This vintage, with its ripe fruit, allowed for maceration periods ranging from 15 to 20 days.
To maintain the harmony between richness and liveliness, Marselan, a grape variety originating in the Languedoc, is vinified in a gentler way, with the extraction facilitating a slow diffusion of aromatic and phenolic compounds. This makes it possible to improve the complexity and balance of our Bordeaux blend.
Following the malolactic fermentation, the first wine is blended after selection of the best tanks and then aged in oak barrels for 18 months. The combination of different proportions of new, one-year and two-year barrels is essential to enhance the final blend and reveal its full complexity.
Grapes
Tasting
The wine reveals itself on the nose with aromas of small black fruits such as blackcurrant, melted with more spicy notes of liquorice. On the palate, the attack is ample, supported by a vibrant balance on a delicate tannic weft. Roasted notes appear in the final and the mouth will retain the nice roundness of this wine.
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