Château Durfort Vivens 2008

The 2008 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Margaux. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

From the very dense purple-red glass of Durfort-Vivens 2008 comes a fine expression of black fruit and flowers, which reappears on the palate in a round, elegant and concentrated style, shaded with cedar and black pepper on the finish. A Margaux to leave forgotten in the cellar for a few short years so that it comes into perfect harmony.

Blend of the 2008 vintage

Figures from the 2008 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 29 hl/haYield
• 25 yrsVine age
• 120,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

The new facilities were designed to optimize plot selection and the management of vinification. Fermentation in small concrete vats for plot-by-plot tracking.

Ageing

In cask for 16 to 20 months, 45% of them new.

Terroir

Situated in the communes of Margaux, Cantenac and Soussans, the Durfort-Vivens vineyard puts down its roots on deep and particularly poor gravel rises. These gravels were deposited by the successive beds of the Garonne in the Quaternary era. This great terroir gives Cabernet Sauvignon an early and optimal ripeness, allowing it to express fully the finesse and silkiness of its tannins, the guarantee of the freshness and elegance characteristic of the great Margaux wines. At Château Durfort-Vivens, the constant search for a natural balance between the vine and its terroir is reflected in traditional cultivation practices. In 2012, 80% of the vineyard was farmed biodynamically and 20% under integrated production