L’Innocence de Séraphine 2022
“A luscious deep red in colour with a nose of succulent juicy red & black fruits, spiced and creamed with hints of crème pâtissière and black cherry notes that are hugely appealing. On the palate, it shows more of the same, soft and supple, sweet and ripe fruit with a lovely freshness and big but ripe tannins, nicely chewy and textured with a lovely lingering finish. “
— Martin Krajewski, Proprietor
Tasting Note
An enticing nose of dark juicy berries, blueberry tarts, cinnamon, dried herbs and incense smoke. The colour of the wine is deep, dark and interesting whilst on the palate it is tight and firm to the core, yet also generous and plush as it fills out the mouth. A well balanced wine with tension and balance that already beckons well for the future.
Vineyard
Our vineyard has an overall surface of 2.2 hectares but is split into two parcels of vines. At Plince, we have 1 hectare of vines situated on a well-draining slope of sandy topsoil over clay and deep gravels and 0.4h of this plot was replanted with Cabernet Franc in April 2017 at 8000 vines per/h.
The second block at Mazeyres is 1.2h and is also laid out in two distinct sections. The first part consists of a raised deposit of deep gravels of 0.6h and was replanted in 2021 with Merlot vines at 6600 plants per/h. The second part sits on a gently sloping 0.6h and is a patchwork of shallow sandy soils over gravels and blue clay and was replanted with Merlot in April 2017 at 8,000 vines per/h. We work exclusively by horse for all our soil works including under row ploughing and tilling and employ eco-friendly viticultural practices.
Following last year’s frosts, we delayed pruning our older vines until well into the new year and left the young vines to late March, which proved highly beneficial when temperatures fell dramatically in early April. We deployed frost candles in the vines well before they were needed and carefully monitored the capricious weather from April onwards. We also adjusted our work practices to protect the vines from periods of stress, working the soil in the cooler evenings to assist with water retention, maintaining a full canopy and ‘green harvesting’ to further take the pressure off the vines.
Vinification
One day of cold soak (10°C) followed by alcoholic fermentation (26°C) for 7 days with regular ‘remontage’. Lower temperature and no délestage to avoid over extraction as the berries were much smaller and only very light pump overs, especially after the first third of fermentation and then just cap wetting during the last third.
Post fermentation extended maceration (28°C) for 3 weeks followed by malolactic fermentation in 300L new oak barrels. After malolactic fermentation was complete, the wine was racked off its lees into barrel (50% new, 50% second/third-fill) where it will now age for the next 12-14 months.
We also filled a 1000L clay amphora by gravity with Cabernet Franc from our 6-year-old vines at Plince and directly from the sorting table using a small conveyor. Then following the completion of the fermentation, the wine was racked and returned to the Amphora for ageing for a further 12-14 months. Malo in barrel and clay amphora.
Grape Variety: 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 14% by volume
RS: Less than 2 g/l
Production: 4000 bottles
Harvest Notes 2022
Winter was cool and dry with rain at Christmas, but the temperature hit 20°C on New Year’s Day before more rain and a prolonged cold spell from the middle of the month. February started well but temperatures then dropped to zero, although by the end of the month the improving day time conditions encouraged an early budburst.
However, when the mercury started to fall in March, the young vine growth stalled, which helped to avoid any early morning frost damage on 4/5th April when we also lit anti-frost candles on both days. April continued with some rain but then the heat rose to 25°C which brought thunderstorms, but the month ended with pleasant days as May roared in with mid-month highs of over 30°C. June followed suit and the flowering and fruit set were successful, but then it turned humid as midday highs brushed 40°C and led to violent regional hailstorms on 20th June, which fortunately did not touch Pomerol.
From July onwards and throughout August, more heatwaves punctured the growing season and made it tricky in terms of managing drought and water stress as temperatures again reached 40°C with little relief other than 15mm rain on 29th July.
We commenced harvest on 1st September and picked the older Merlot vines at Plince and continued the next day with a selection of the young Merlot at Mazeyres as a light early morning rain shower passed overhead. We then stopped for two hours as another downpour arrived, but with drying sunshine we resumed and by dusk all our Merlot was in the cellar. Then as the weather fluctuated and cooled, we finally picked our Cabernet Franc on 23rd September and harvest was over.
In the winery, the fruit was carefully loaded from small baskets onto a first-sorting table and then de-stemmed using our precision CUBE system followed by a berry hand-sorting table and then gently crushed before arriving in the fermentation tanks by gravity. The average yield was approximately 30hl/h for the older vines but 35hl/h for the younger vines, most of which will only go into the ‘second’ wine.