The warm September days which are so typical of the climate of the Bordeaux region are crucial to the grape ripening process; so much so, that our hopes can quickly turn to fears when clouds, blown in from the nearby Atlantic, suddenly appear. It will soon be harvest time though, and fortunately our minds are now focused on all the preparations. The days fly by as the excitement grows. At last, we get there. The harvesting team is ready, the job is before us; the doubts creep in, our hopes build up. Ha! The magic of the vendanges!

The Merlot plots are harvested quickly as we next move onto the Cabernet Sauvignon. The shorter autumn days begin with a pure, gentle, light, accompanied occasionally by a light mist that brings a touch of mystery to the atmosphere. As the wines finish their alcoholic fermentation, we wait eagerly and impatiently to get to know each wine, one by one. Then suddenly, the harvest is finished. We are already looking back on it with nostalgy, like last night's party. And yet the real harvest party is tomorrow. Then the new wine will be run off the skins, and the vat cellar will have the same merry atmosphere as the vineyard during the picking. But the days and weeks have quietly passed by, the leaves have all fallen after November's winds and, for the vineyard workers, it signals the return to their plots. Now its time to think about manuring the vineyard -to reward it for all the efforts it has made. Back in the vat cellar, everything is now calm again, the wine as well as the men that serve it. The first-year barrel cellar comes alive again as the ageing process begins. New oak makes such an immediate impact on new wines, especially the Merlot, that it is very difficult to taste them until the beginning of winter. When they have finally integrated the wood, with that ease which is the privilege of the greatest wines, they display their subtlety, freshness and richness, almost making us feel they are opening their hearts to us.