Chateau d'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux 2014

Grape growing at Château d'Yquem remains very traditional. Fertiliser is exclusively organic and used sparingly. Furthermore, only 20 hectares are fertilised a year. This compost maintains the soil's natural equilibrium while keeping it from becoming too rich or fertile, as this would prevent the vines from producing wines of character. Chemical weed killers are never used. The soil undergoes regular cycles of manual work: earthing up twice a year, unearthing twice a year, and countless other vineyard operations. The vines are severely pruned in early winter to limit yields and encourage maximum ripeness. The Sémillon is spur pruned (two to three renewal spurs with two buds), whereas the more vigorous Sauvignon Blanc is 90% spur pruned and 10% Single Guyot pruned. Château d'Yquem's twenty female vineyard workers are each assigned specific plots, so they become familiar with virtually each vine. Among other duties, they are responsible for green pruning operations such as bud pruning as well as tying up and removing side shoots. The final touch before the vintage is leaf thinning on the eastern side of some 700,000 vines so the grapes dry more quickly in the morning while continuing to protect the western side most exposed to rain.