Hu Yue
The vintage
The 2019 vintage can be considered as an especially hot and dry vintage in the Shandong province, with a great richness in the wines. The season started with very low water reserves in the soil due to the dry Shandong winter, but some rainfalls in April and May allowed the vine to build its canopy. The flowering period in June was sunny, allowing a good fruit set and therefore, a good number of bunches per vine. The particularly dry summer period demanded efforts to the vineyard team to bring water to the plants in order to ensure maturation. Veraison happened early, starting in the end of July for the Merlot and ending with the Cabernet Sauvignon in the first week of August. The harvest started right after the launch of our first 2017 vintage, and was quite dense, meaning that the maturities all came up in a restricted period of time. The team meticulously followed the maturations with an intra-plot selection for a harvest at the optimum maturity according to technological and phenological parameters. The Syrah was first harvested on the 21st of September, and the last Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested on the 18th of October.
Location
The Long Dai Estate nestles in the heart of the Qiu Shan Valley in the Shandong province, North-East of China. The climate in this region is tempered by the influence of the Yellow Sea, about 20 km away. Highly dependent on agriculture, this region benefits from both mild winters and granite soils, making it favourable for viticulture.
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 organized to apply high-precision viticultural methods. Disbudding and green harvesting allow to reduce yields, permitting 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 traditional vinification methods for emblematic Bordeaux grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc. Controlled pumping-over allows a respectful extraction of each cuvée to obtain harmonious balances between roundness, finesse and length. This year, the extractions have been carefully managed to avoid dry tannins that were feared due to the drought in the summer.
The more southerly grape varieties such as Marselan and Syrah, for their part, are vinified in a gentler way with extractions facilitating a slow diffusion of aromatic and phenolic compounds. These two grape varieties bring complexity and depth to the final blend. Following the malolactic fermentation, Hu Yue is blended after tasting each cuvée. It is then matured partly in stainless steel tanks (58%) and partly in French oak barrels from the DBR Lafite cooperage (42%), for 12 months. The combination of new barrels (10%) and used ones (32%) is essential to sublimate the final blend and reveal all its complexity and finesse.
Grapes
Tasting
Hu Yue is defined by aromas of red fruits such as red currant and cherry, followed by spicy notes of licorice and white pepper revealing a complex and yet refined nose. The attack is fresh, with a balanced structure and an enveloping mouthfeel. The length, supported by silky tannins, is distinguished by light notes of cocoa, perfectly underlining the harmony of this wine.
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