Tolchards Wine Brochure 2023 - Magazine - Page 89
Responses by
Owner and Winemaker Routas Wine Estate
In 2005 Sir David Murray and his family took ownership of
Château Routas and has seen the changing tides first hand
as it was during this time that America began its love affair
with rosé and by 2014 it had gotten to the point where the
Hamptons had issued a state of emergency (not really) due
to the low supply of rosé. Keith Murray, Managing Partner
and son of Sir David, came on in 2007 and travels the
globe managing the family’s wine estates.
The 2022 harvest was quite
early because of the hot and
dry summer. We avoided twice
hail and rainfalls in the end of
August allowed a good maturing
of the grapes and good volume
of production. We are happy with
this vintage because every plots
were well ripe with good quality.
WHAT PROBLEMS HAVE
YOU HAD TO SOLVE?
Because of the drought the
maturing process progressed
very fast, the amount of sugar
increased a lot in just few days as
the acidity fell down very quickly
as well. To get a well balanced
wine, it is important to correct the
acidity. The acidity is the spine of
the wine, especially for white and
rosé wines. But as a wine maker
we need to solve problems which
often come from the vineyard,
what our manager does.
For instance because of the
drought, blocking maturing
process could be solved with
potassium or calcium brought
to the vines. And the aromas
production control starts in
the vineyard as well with foliar
nitrogen spray, therefore we
use to work as a team.
Last years we usually have faced
the consequences of global
warming, it means to adapt and
change our habits by starting the
harvest sooner, thinking about
planting new grapes, correct the
acidity of the wines.
WHAT MAKES
A SUCCESSFUL WINE
A successful wine is not only a
good wine. Of course the wine
needs to be good, even excellent,
but it needs to please people and
the new market. The wines we
used to drink 20 years ago are
not the same we drink tomorrow.
The modern wines are aromatic,
refreshing and have a dynamic
acidity, the older ones were more
concentrated, woodier, more
powerful and sometimes heavy.
It also needs to match with
the sustainability matters
because people care about it.
They don’t want standardized
wines anymore, they want a wine
which reflects a terroir. Moreover,
the packaging is decisive. It has
to be modern and attractive but
not too fancy.
“Thanks to a great vintage
the outcome is stunning.”
Keith Murray
Owner and Winemaker
Château Routas
89
WERE YOU PLEASE
WITH 2022 HARVEST?
KEITH MURRAY - CHATEAU ROUTAS
CHÂTEAU Keith Murray
ROUTAS
