Château Lafite Rothschild

The season begins with a few warnings of frost, including a black frost on April 7th, bringing temperatures of -4/-5°C in the Brèdes and Carruades areas. Fortunately, little damage is observed, as the late-pruned Merlots are at the one-leaf stage and the Cabernets have barely started budding. This is followed by a wet April, with good vegetative growth, and a rather dry May, requiring close monitoring for downy mildew. Flowering begins at the end of May, with vegetation growing faster than usual. June is very rainy (110mm), creating high sanitary pressure, which is well controlled. A long period of drought then eradicates the downy mildew and subjects the old vines to severe water stress from mid-August. Isolated heatwaves, starting early July, damage certain plots, and subsequent heatwaves destroy part of the year's plantings and some of the weaker old vines. Harvesting starts September 1st. It takes place under good conditions, and the crop is of very high quality.