caroline @ wildearthvineyards.com Tel: +33(0)553227271 Caroline & Seán Feely
Château Haut Garrigue
24240 Saussignac France
Haut Garrigue, Wild EARTH Vineyards is:
E: Excellent wines
A: Artisanal & hand-made
R: Respect of the earth & you
T: True to its place & terroir
H: Historic
What do our labels mean?
At Chateau Haut Garrigue we reflect our wines, our farm and ourselves in our labels - a mix of old and new world - old world for our Irish roots and for France, the location of our fine terroir, new world for our formative years in South Africa. This year our merlot label brings our organic and biodynamic ethos to the fore.
The Merlot Label Sensitive Crystallization The process is simple, a solution of copper chloride is added to the product concerned - in this case wine - and the resulting solution is left to crystallize in a glass petrie dish in a controlled laboratory - no external, sounds, smells or other influences - for 24 hours. The results are then analysed for their form.
Professionals will take many samples of the same product to make sure they have a reproducible and interpretable image; in the cases of our merlot all images taken by the lab were similar to this one hence it's deemed reliable. You will find much talk about sensitive crystallisation on the internet and many sceptics just like with biodynamics but the proof is in experience. If you don't buy into biodynamics I encourage you to look at the proof - read our section on biodynamics and see what we have experienced at Garrigue.
After a two day course on sensitive crystallisation, Caroline, while far from being an expert is convinced of its bona fides. Christian Marcel, specialist in sensitive crystallisation with Vin Image, did our crystallogrammes and the analysis of them. He is by no means biased to a good review because we are paying clients. He gave negative feedback on many other samples analysed for paying clients who were also present. This was among the best of the wines analysed.
Structure: Uni-centred, triparte Texture: Homogenous, regular, chiselled with relief Central vacuoles: Symettric, almond-shaped Anomalies: no anomalies
For interest I include here an image of one barrel of our 2008 in progress (sample taken in March 2009 so when the wine was about 6 months from harvest and a good 12-24 months from being finished) to indicate how different the texture of the image can be. Here again we have a good centred image but which lacks definition on the one side and with a far smaller exterior circle. This could be due to it being an unfinished wine.
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This is what his analysis states:
Conclusion: The tripartite structure of the crystallogrammes and the richness of the texture reveal a beautiful architectural and chemical equilibrium. The symmetry of the vacuoles and the almond form indicate aromatic qualities of black and red fruits. There are no indications of anomaly or of vine disease which also contributes to the global quality of this wine. The textured aspect suggests an alkaline tendency probably from the soil (my note: our soils are very alkaline thanks to the limestone).
Overall, the criteria of the crystallogramme indicate that the wine is close to maturity. It's a stable product whose peak will arrive in the next two to three years. (my note: the greenish circle on the outer section indicates barrel aging and the strength of the outer circle beyond the green indicates a good potential for aging.)
END of Marcel's analysis
This year we wanted to bring the minerality and individuality of our limestone fossil rock terroir to the fore on the sauvignon blanc. The rock is encrusted with million year old seafossils testament to the ancient seabed that once was Aquitaine.
The limestone bedrock and rocks make our farming difficult but our wines great. They impart a great potential for aging to wine and particularly in the whites a unique minerality.
The historic significance of Haut Garrigue was owed to its position above the Dordogne ideally positioned for a look-out and to its water source. It is an ancient vaulted well built into the limetone cliffs that still delivers pure water today, a magnificent place that demanded out to be used on our top wines, the La Source range which are all barrel-aged.