After his
death the estate passed to Urbain’s widow, who later had to sell because of the
ravage from phylloxera and oidium, in 1891. The new owner was Comte de
Gastebois, but his time was brief and with his death in 1904 his son-in-law
Comte Bernard de Vesins took on the responsibility.
Like
other vineyards there was a period of decline due to the economic depression
and war, and the estate was bequeathed to his grandchildren Comte Xavier d’Erceville
and Comte Michel du Lac in 1928. 
The
estate was effectively put on en fermage, which is the common form of
agricultural lease of land, whereby the landlord allows another to work the
vineyard and make the wines in return for a share of the profits. 
Lucien
Jugla was put under such management of Pedesclaux for twenty years, before he
took the option to buy in 1950. Lucien died in 1965 and his eldest son Bernard
Jugla took on, remaining in the estate until 1996 when the youngest siblings
Jean and Pierre took up the helm.
The chateau
was subject to an extensive restoration in 2004, and the 2005 vintage scored a
home run in the Decanter tasting, being ranked alongside the best as one of the
five stars in that vintage. But surprisingly the property was sold in 2009 to
Jacky Lorenzetti, who had just purchased the nearby Lilian-Ladouys in
St-Estephe after selling his business.
Jacky
also added a third estate called Haut-Milon in Pauillac, and invested in the
development and improvement of the properties. The estate now spreads over 43
hectares, with 36 hectares of vineyards located close to the northern end of
Pauillac, neighboring Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild and Pontet-Canet.
The
soils are unsurprisingly gravelly, with clay and limestone found at a greater depth.
The oldest vines date from 1950, and the average age is approximately 35 years.
The planting density is from 8333 to 10000 vines per hectare, with half being
Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.
Green
harvesting is practiced, with leaf plucking as well, under the management of
vineyard manager Cyril Petit. The fruit is hand-picked into small crates,
starting from the central vines within a plot, an unusual approach.
The
fruit is then placed in cold storage for 24 hours to even out the temperature
before it is sorted manually, destemmed, sorted again and vinified in thermo
controlled stainless steel vats. The vats are filled by gravity without
crushing, to protect integrity of the fruit and enhance the quality of the
extracted tannin.
The wine
then undergoes cold maceration, followed by eight weeks of maceration during
and after fermentation, with punching down and delestage. The wine spends 14-16
months in oak, 60% are new and remaining one-year, with 20% of the malolactic
fermentation occurring in barrel.
The
grand vin is Chateau Pedesclaux and there is also a second wine named Sens de
Pedesclaux, renamed to Fleur de Pedesclaux after the 2007 vintage. Total
production is around 8000 cases.
I have
recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:
Appearance
Nose
Clean,
with medium intensity aromas showing black fruit of blackberry and dark
cherries, animal notes of meaty, oak notes of vanilla and cedar, pungent spice
of licorice, mineral notes of graphite, maturity notes of wet leaves. The wine
is developing.
Palate
Dry with
medium acidity, this wine has medium (+) tannin which is ripe and integrated. Medium
in alcohol with medium body, with medium intensity flavors of black fruit of
blackberry and dark cherries, red fruit of red plum, oak notes of cedar, sweet
spice of cloves, mineral notes of earth. The wine has a medium (+) finish.
Conclusion
Good
quality Pauillac with a reasonably intense nose showing good complexity, the
wine has a solid structure with good balance on the flavor, acidity and tannin,
which is smooth and fully-integrated. With plenty of flavors of fair
concentration, the wine finishes with a fairly long length. It is ready to
drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years.
沒有留言:
張貼留言