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| Williams Winecellars - Quality Wines from the Languedoc and elsewhere |
 | 2008 Vintage | | This was not an easy year for the winemakers. The spring was cool, which slowed the development of the fruit. Although the summer was not as hot as some years, there was low rainfall and this after a similarly low rainfall in previous years. This lead to an uneven ripening of the grapes and to a considerably reduced yield. Generally, the lack of moisture helped prevent disease. The harvest continued to be dry and the grapes that were picked tended to be healthy. Good growers will have made good wines, but there were fewer great wines than there might have been. |
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| 2007 Vintage | | Another good vintage. There were a few localised weather problems, but overall the wines showed reliably high quality. |
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| 2006 Vintage | | A very good vintage The possibility that the grapes would suffer from lack of moisture was overcome by rain late in August. The rain had passed by the time that most harvests took place, which was then almost perfect, resulting in healthy grapes. The whites needed attention to ensure freshness and acidity, which most have achieved; the reds are very good to excellent. |
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| 2005 Vintage | | Almost perfect conditions were spoiled in some parts of the Languedoc by heavy rain during harvest time. St. Chinian and Minervois were amongst the regions hit. As a result of the conditions and the ripeness of the grapes, many of the growers had already picked the whole or majority of their crop, but others were caught out. One grower in the Minervois, with steep slopes, reported that the only problem was carrying the soil from the foot of the vineyard back to the top. The majority of the wines are very good. Tasting had to reveal any that suffered. |
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| 2004 Vintage | | The majority of growers were very pleased with the 2004 vintage and not just because it followed the very hot 2003. The weather in 2004 was almost ideal and the harvest provided good quality and quantity. The whites are particularly good, with attractive freshness and acidity when they were young and many have shown the ability to last or improve with ageing. |
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Williams Winecellars : Languedoc Vintage Reports
| Fine wine from the Languedoc and elsewhere at reasonable prices |
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