21.09.2020

Normally this is a time to be out in the vines with growers and either taking a pre-harvest view or post-harvest review (always avoiding the hard work of actually harvesting somehow!) but obviously this year the information has come in via phone and email, and here is what we have to date

WALES:

I was up at David Morris’s vineyard in Tintern (Wye Valley) last week and it is rewarding to see that the work David has put into this 35 year old site has paid off, albeit with slightly lower yields. He pruned the vines using a ‘cordon simple’ method to try and change the way the sap flows to the fruit and although the vines were healthy enough to start with, it is always a tentative time as they can sometimes react badly. The year has been a little odd (climatically) with the south facing slope over-looking the river being exposed to wall to wall sunshine for the whole of bud break to flowering. Rains and cooler winds set in over July and August which have meant that mildew protection was a full time job (with a sprayer that didn’t like slopes), and has given many vineyards in the region a real headache, with a sprayer that didn’t like slopes. The recent sunny weather will bring the Pinot on nicely and the Bacchus Pinot Blanc and Schuerebe are all looking in good condition. Harvest is estimated for mid/end of October with 2000 liters in total for the hectare, which rather neatly ties in with the new tanks arriving at the winery up the hill this week. More on this to follow

FRANCE 

Loire Valley

Roussely, Chenonceaux

Started the year with a mild winter leading to a warm, blue sky spring, which in turn had the potential for frosts which were not forthcoming this year as they have been recently. The summer although dry favoured their older vines which were able to resist drought through developed root systems. Bud burst and flowering were all finebut the intensity of the heat in August meant that grape development was slow, and they are concentrated as a result. Rain at the end of August helped to push the development on but it was an early harvest for the whites, starting on the last day of August, and rain helping a little to reduce sugars for a more balanced must. The reds are being harvested now, so more on these later.

Vincent Caille Muscadet

Vincent has taken the decision to delay harvest for two weeks to benefit from the warmer weather in the tail of august and early September to improve fruit ripeness. Most started in August 29^th and he was Sept 14^th. The fruit is looking healthy and all being well he will be finished by this week. Interestingly his main issue this year was lack of pickers due to covid, something I am sure we will see all over Europe.

Alsace

Camille Braun, Orschwihr

News is a bit scant here, other than to say the year has been exceptional with harvest starting end of August and finishing this week. Early but with good balance of fruit and excellent yeileds. More to follow

Roanaisse

Domaine Serol

To sum up, this is a small but beautiful year. Very dry with no odium which was prevalent in the region. Acidities are average with abvs at between 12.3 and 13.2 which may be as a result of an early start to harvest and picking early in the morning. Very good quality but with the dry weather, we have low quantity. We 've avoided Odium, which was the major issue this year. It is also worth noting that the Gamay was picked in early September with Chenin and Viognier picked two weeks later to make use of the rain. 

Cahors

Mas del Perie

The vintage has been exceptional for the estate, with excellent fruit quality and quantity too. The spring was warm and benevolent with a strong lead into fruit set in june, and harvest starting in early August and finishing mid-September. This will be the first harvest to done in the new cellar so it couldn’t have come at t better time. I’ll know more when I speak to Fabien at the end of the month.

Burgundy, Pouilly Fuisse

Domaine Cheveau

The year started as with everyone with a great spring and early summer. Last year a few of the vineyards were hampered by mildew and no cuvees were made, so this year it was heartening to see the Davaye vineyards in better shape. Mid-summer proved difficult to manage with cooler and windy conditions, although the sheltered cru sites were not affected as much as the Solutre Pouilly vines. Gamay thrived and was picked in conection with the whites, which have uniformly come in with average (for the estate) acidity and abvs of 12.8 to 13.09, low for the region. The gamays are healthy and ferments went without a hitch with more whole-bunch macerations being used this year. These are the first cru Pouilly-Fuisse wines to be labelled as 1er cru, so a great harvest for this to happen.

Rhone:

Chateauneuf, Domaine de la Graveirette

A fulsome year, good crop of healthy and generous fruit, would sum this harvest up. Heat in late June stifled growth in some of the younger vineyards, but did not affect the old vines on the Crau. A cooler August and rain held harvest for a week, but the fruit was all in by end of August and despite the intensity of the earlier part of the season, the musts are all fermenting well and acid levels in the wines are surprisingly healthy too. 

Domaine Mucyn, Crozes

There has been a huge lack of water this year, being the driest for over 15 years, causing serious hydric stress and high southerly winds hampering any photosynthesis. Fortunately two rain events occurred after August 15^th which has unlocked some of the maturity and have helped Crozes Hermitage to a satisfactory ripeness. IN St Jospeh the rain was lighter and as a result the harvest was in 28^th August, the earliest many domains have ever seen. Yields were good for Crozes-Hermitage with beautiful balance at 13% Vol, good acidity , very dark colour, well ripe. Macerations were very light and the resulting wine has freshness and remarkably ripe and well-formed tannins. The St Jo vineyards will be 30% down on last year, but balance is ok and abv 13% and Cornas will be much the same.

In essence, a warm, water free start to the year, but cooler conditions and rain have helped to save the day…. 

Cant wait to taste!

Ben