Stories
2022 Harvest
Harvesting the fruit of labor
The harvest at Château Quintus began on September 7th. The first Merlot grapes, from the youngest vines have been picked, as they always are the first to reach the necessary maturity. During the summer, the winegrowers are removing the few remaining green grapes before they start ripening, to ensure the homogeneity of the harvest. Moreover, the team did not carry any leaf-thinning on Quintus’ plots this year. And thankfully so, because this green canopy protected the grapes from this summer’s hot and dry sun.
The strength of Quintus’ terroir
2022 is giving us perfectly mature grapes, in excellent health conditions. Our grape pickers are delivering quite the ideal raw material for making a great vintage. Saint-Emilion’s weather in 2022 gave a solar year with numerous periods of hot weather and little rainfall, but it came every time at the right moment. Audrey Bernard, Vineyard Manager, give us a few insights about this year’s particulary warm and dry climate and its impact: « the terroir of Quintus was a real asset during this hot, dry year, because it retains some coolness. The vine went to seek water deep down in the soil, which enabled us to have grapes that reached maturity, without any halt during their ripening whatsoever.” The result is a harvest of very concentrated berries with exceptional aromatic qualities.
Perfect homogeneity and maturity in 2022
With more than 30 years of experience in Saint-Emilion, Claude Diligeart, our Cellar Master, is one of the best placed to deliver the first impressions on this year’s crop. With a lovely harvest and perfect ripeness, this year offers much less sorting to do. Claude Diligeart starts tasting the juice as soon as the grapes are put into vats and he comments « We adapt ourselves to the grapes that we bring in; our winemaking is made-to-measure. We ensure that pumping over is gentler and above all, not as long as in previous years.” Hot years are those of great quality with a lesser harvest quantity indeed, but we always give preference to quality over quantity.
2022, full of promise
2022 and the 12th vintage of Château Quintus and the earliest one at Quintus for the past 10 years. Mariette Veyssière, Estate Manager at Château Quintus, gives her insight on the very promising 2022 (future) vintage. « Saint-Emilion’s terroir was particularly highlighted and valued during this year, with the weather being hot and dry. Plots on the northern slope will undoubtedly bring freshness and elegance to the blend of Quintus 2022. They will certainly come to give balance to the plots on the southern slope, where the grapes were more concentrated and richer in aromas. 2022 seems to be a highly promising vintage, in the same vein as the superb vintages of 2019 and 2020. “
