Jamessuckling.com | JS 96
Published: Mar 21, 2024

A nice touch of baked cherries and dark chocolate to the deep blackberry fruit. Ink and a touch of graphite and dried herbs. Full-bodied and pretty powerful with fine-grained tannins and a long, extensive finish. 68% carmenere, 16% cabernet sauvignon,15% merlot and 1% cabernet franc. Give it two more years to let the fruit settle more. Drink or hold.

Closapalta.com

Le Petit Clos is a different interpretation of the Clos Apalta Terroir, using the mastery of blending that is the heart of the winemaking philosophy from the Domaines Bournet-Lapostolle.

Tasting Notes
Color
Deep purple red color with pretty deep violet hues.

Nose
Expressive nose with spicy aromas dominating, black and red fruit with a fresh edge.

Palate
Well balanced, with a round and juicy structure given by the Carmenere base. Freshness at the finish that last for a long time.

Vintage Report
Appellation
Apalta.

BLEND
68% Carmenere, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc

HARVEST
March 8th to May 3th

GROWING CONDITIONS
The 2021 vintage was challenging as it brought a scenario of climatic disruptions and the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. The winter was mild, with temperatures 2% higher on average. We had a good amount of rain, 63% more than the previous vintage. The spring changed the temperature pattern with a wider thermal amplitude and an increase in maximum temperature and lower minima. The flowering arrived about 10 days earlier than the average, from the 5th to the 23rd of November. No frost or heat waves were recorded. The summer brought a climatic phenomenon called an "atmospheric river" that resulted in a 68 mm rain from the 29th to the 31st of January. This event has never been recorded before and coincided with the veraison. From this event onwards, the weather switched to be consistently cooler with temperatures 12% lower than the historical average. During February we had particularly overcast conditions, solar radiation was 8% down compared to the average of the last 5 seasons. The fall was fortunately dry and cold, it helped with the health of the vines. Under these significant cold conditions, the maturity arrived slowly, the accumulated heat was lower
than in the past four vintages which was a positive factor. The yields ended up being generous considering the challenges we faced, and most importantly with grapes that produced wines of excellent quality.