"The 2010 vintage at chateau de Tracy is a great balance between concentration and distinction"

Interview with Henry d’Assay (here with his sisters Juliette and Nathalie)

Count Henry d’Assay, owner of Chateau de Tracy, gave us an interview this week about the 2010 Harvest on his estate based in the Pouilly Fume appellation.

How would you define 2010 at Chateau de Tracy?
“The 2010 vintage at chateau de Tracy is a great balance between concentration and distinction. A concentration both in terms of structure and aromas. For the structure, the mature grapes gave us a good alcohol level together with a fine and long acidity. It gave to the wines a lot of freshness and a very long finish.”

Is 2010 showing a nice aromatic potential?
“Regarding aromas, from the beginning when we started harvesting, grapes were very tasty with aromas of exotic fruits. The juices, straight from the press, were already full of strong aromas of guava and mango.”

Any particularity for this new vintage?
“After fermentation, the elegance, the power and the precision of those wines are very evident. This year, at Chateau de Tracy, we are particularly impressed to have a high level of quality on both terroirs, I mean chalk and silex soils. Chalk soils are showing now wines with a rich and round structure. The acidity gives them, in 2010, a supplementary hint of light, I would say. Silex soils show particularly expressive aromas this year. Tense and powerful, the wines tend to express themselves like in any great year. Ageing potential will not be a problem at all for all those wines.

Any new inspiration after this 2010 harvest?
“Definitely Haute Densite, our wine made from high-density planted vines on chalk soils, and 101 Rangs, our very limited wine made from old vines planted on a spectacular silex soil, will show the impressive potential we can get at Chateau de Tracy. But 2010 reinforces our conviction that blending both grapes coming from chalk and silex soils is a great opportunity to make powerful, complex, elegant and long ageing wines with a lot of distinction.”