Moulin de Duhart
Presentation
Château Duhart-Milon’s second wine is selected from vats of the "Grand Vin". In general, the grapes are from the youngest part of the vineyard. Moulin de Duhart has several characteristics similar to the fine wine, but with a lesser potential for ageing as its ageing in barrels is much shorter. It must be consumed younger than its more robust counterpart. The origin of the name comes from the former presence of a windmill on the Carruades, next to the Duhart-Milon vineyard.
The vintage
The very wet, cold winter resulted in work in the vineyard being considerably delayed; bud break was late, and flowering was three weeks later than the average for the last 50 years; the changeable weather resulted in some flower abortion and uneven grape size, and therefore in lower potential yields than usual. Then at the end of June, the weather suddenly changed, and it was if we were in the middle of the summer with no transitional period; there were however several localized storms (on 27 July and 2 August, depending on location).
The situation became somewhat challenging from 15 September: there was rain, sun and a long wait for the grapes to fully ripen, even though they had partially caught up from the late start; things then became more delicate at the end of September, when it became clear there was a risk of "explosive" growth of botrytis! It was like a race with no time to warm up, and we had to find all the pickers we could to go as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the sorting teams were very efficient despite the difficult harvest. The usual picking sequence for the red wine grapes had to be adjusted in order to minimize the impact of the botrytis and to take into account the potential to make the first or second wine.
Location
Pauillac is located on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, approximately 40km North of Bordeaux. With the tempering influence of the estuary and a great diversity of soils originated from both the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, Pauillac boasts exceptionnal climatic and geological conditions to make outstanding wines.
Terroir
Château Duhart-Milon’s vineyard consists of a single block of vines adjacent to Château Lafite Rothschild, on the hillside to the west of the Carruades plateau. The property has 76 hectares of vines. The soil consists of fine gravel mixed with aeolian sand on a tertiary limestone subsoil.
Winemaking
Moulin de Duhart is made in the traditional Bordeaux methods : grapes are destemmed and crushed before being placed in concrete or stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Fermentation is conducted at 30°c and followed by three weeks of maceration with regular pump over to ensure a gentle extraction of the tannins.
After malolactic fermentation, the wine is transfered into French oak barrels for 10 months in two-year-old barrels.
Grapes
Tasting
This young wine has plenty of fruit, accompanied by the varietal aromas. Direct, without being very full-bodied, the palate extends into a fairly expressive, balanced, rounded finish, without any heaviness.
The best time to drink this wine will be in two to four years.
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