Château
Clerc
Milon 2024 Vintage
En Primeur
Available soon   

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

A mild and very wet winter caused early budbreak at end-March, about a week before the thirty-year average. Though April was mostly dry, heavy rain combined with cool temperatures and moderate sunshine in May encouraged the spread of downy mildew and slowed the vine growth cycle. These challenging conditions during flowering and berry set led in some cases to poor fruit set and shatter, especially in Merlot and early Cabernet plots.

Summer brought much better weather and a water deficit on gravel soils which was highly beneficial for the vines and lasted until harvest. Hot days without excessively high temperatures alternated with cool nights, providing favourable conditions for the grapes to reach a good level of phenolic maturity. Picking started on 24 September and continued uninterrupted in changeable weather, ending in sunshine in early October.

2024 was a challenging vintage at the beginning and at the end of the growing season, though fortunately the weather turned fair at critical times for quality. The hot, dry and sunny summer caused a water shortage that favoured mature tannins and encouraged the synthesis of anthocyanins. From tilling in spring to harvest, committed people and highly effective technical resources kept us on the front foot and meant that we were never left having to react after the event. That fine-tuned vineyard management helped us to make fresh, highly aromatic, refined and elegant wines that perfectly illustrate the Atlantic expression of the terroirs they come from.