Liv-ex has once again opened up the blog to Bordeaux grower, winemaker and writer Gavin Quinney (@GavinQuinney). At the time of his last report, Bordeaux had been experiencing a hot, dry summer. His insider’s report, below, offers an update on the progress of this year’s crop.
All photos below courtesy of Gavin Quinney. Copyright © All Rights Reserved.
It’s a risky business, predicting a wonderful vintage before hardly a red grape has been picked, so, for the moment, here’s an interim update on how things are going in Bordeaux at the start of the harvest. There’s still a way to go.
A month is a long time in viticulture and many growers were concerned as recently as the first week of August about the extremely dry conditions we’d experienced since mid-June. (See Bordeaux 2015 – dry and sunny, still.) Then the rain came in August, refreshing the vines as the bunches changed colour.
Troplong Mondot, St Emilion, Merlot
Summer seemed to slip into Autumn with the arrival of September, with cooler nights and fresh, sunny days right from the start of the month. That’s good news for the white harvest, which is now well under way in the Graves and the Entre Deux Mers, having started earlier, as always, in the warmer vineyards of Pessac-Léognan.
It should be fine this week but there could be rain on the way this weekend, 12-13 September, after which the red harvest will begin in more precocious areas. Some Merlots from recent plantations have already been picked, such as at Chateau Cheval Blanc in Saint Emilion last week, but these really are exceptions.
Cheval Blanc started with young Merlot vines
The Merlot and Cabernet vines, from St-Emilion to St-Estephe, are in the best shape since 2010. Green and vibrant canopies, well-formed bunches (conditions for the speedy flowering in late May and early June were terrific), dark, thick skins and absolutely no risk of rot. (It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however. Downy mildew and black rot were a risk at the start of the growing season.)
Cabernet Sauvignon at Leoville Poyferre
The sunshine and dry breezes during the first ten days of this month are already concentrating the fruit, following the plumping up of the berries in August. Yields look promising, although for the reds in particular the berries can be small and producers are concerned about the amount of juice. (There’s always something to worry about.) Judging by the vines and analysis of the weather statistics, we’re about 10 days ahead of 2014.
Here are some figures about the weather to date. I’ve taken the average of the rainfall and temperature figures from eight sub-regions – Northern Médoc, Margaux (except nearby Cussac for August), Léognan, Graves, Sauternes, St-Emilion, Blaye and Entre Deux Mers. The charts present a general picture but note that rainfall can vary significantly. For example, some areas had double the 30 year average rainfall in August, whereas others, like Margaux, were much closer to the average. It’s been a dry year there, for sure.
The figures show that in April, May, June and July combined, Bordeaux had half the average rainfall, but twice the normal rainfall in August. It has also been significantly warmer than usual; while May and August saw temperatures in line with the monthly average, April, June and July were a degree hotter each month.
As is so often the case, September holds the key. Following the rain in August, here’s hoping for a September like the ones we had in some other dry years which spring to mind: 2000, 2005, 2010…
