When "Water" Shapes Wine
When Water Shapes Wine
The story of a vintage doesn’t begin in the glass.
In EP.1, we explored how climate, altitude and temperature shape what we taste in wine.
But there’s another player in the vineyard. One that can influence temperature, ripening, disease pressure and even the character of a vintage.
Water.
And I’m not just talking about rain.
It could be an ocean kilometres away, an estuary moderating temperatures, rainfall from months earlier, or water stored deep beneath the vineyard.
Somehow, they all find their way into the story of what’s in our glass. 🍷
More than just rain
Take Bordeaux’s Médoc, for example.
With the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Gironde Estuary to the east, large bodies of water help moderate temperature extremes.
But water also brings humidity and rainfall.
Too little water, and vines may struggle to ripen their grapes. Too much, and excessive growth and disease pressure can become problems.
So when we talk about rain in a vintage, the interesting question isn’t simply “How much?”
It’s “When?”
Bordeaux 2023: Same water, different roles
At Château Cheval Blanc in Saint-Émilion, humid conditions created significant mildew pressure in early summer, particularly for Merlot.
Yet rainfall later in the season played a different role, helping support ripening before the intense heat of late August.
Same water. Different timing. Different consequences.
That’s why I don’t particularly like describing a vintage simply as “hot” or “wet.”
It’s rather like trying to tell an entire book in one sentence. 😄
Sometimes, the story begins underground
This became much clearer to me during a tasting at Château-Figeac.
While discussing the 2023 vintage, we moved beyond the weather above the vines to what was happening beneath them.
One detail stayed with me: blue clay and underground water reserves.
Rainfall from the previous winter had helped replenish water stored in the soil, potentially providing an important resource during the growing season.
It made me realise something.
A vine isn’t only responding to today’s rainfall. Its roots may be drawing on water that nature stored months earlier.
And when tasting Figeac 2023, freshness was one of the characteristics that stood out.
Of course, we can’t simply say “more water in the soil = fresher wine.” Grape varieties, temperature, vineyard management and harvest decisions all contribute.
But it reminded me that the story of a vintage can begin long before the grapes start ripening.
At Figeac, even the harvest reflected that complexity. Merlot was picked first, followed by a pause before the Cabernet harvest.
Nature sets the conditions. Winemakers still have to decide when each grape is ready.
And here we return to the idea from EP.1:
Ripe, but still fresh.
Taste the vintage backwards
Next time you have two vintages from the same château, don’t start by asking which year is better.
Taste them first.
Which has riper fruit? More acidity? A fuller body?
Then look back at the growing season.
When did the rain arrive? Where was the water stored? And when did the vines actually need it?
Suddenly, a vintage becomes more than a number on a label.
It becomes a year you can taste.
In EP.3, we’ll explore another piece of the puzzle: why two vineyards experiencing similar weather can still produce remarkably different wines, simply because of their slope and exposure.
To be continued… 🍷
Wine Diary by BW
Uncork & Unlock the World of French Wine
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