Sur Le Zinc
Harvest 2007
There is a saying in Burgundy “Septembre fait le vin,” September makes the wine. It applied in 1978 when the entire summer was overcast with cool temperatures, and by the end of August, the grapes looked like little green English peas. This year, as the growers came back from their short vacation in anticipation of… READ MORE
Harvest 2005 – The Perfect Balance
In mid-June, I started to inquire about when to anticipate the next harvest. June is the month of blooming grapes. If temperatures are correct and there is no rain, flowering can last two weeks. However, if the temperature drops, or if it rains, then blooming will be interrupted, which will delay the maturity of the… READ MORE
2004, The Unpredictable Harvest
At the end of August, the outlook was grim. Following the flowering, the cool nights of June led to oidium (powdery mildew). July was wet. August was overcast and cool, which meant no luminosity—so necessary for the ripening of the grapes. Then, two major hail storms unfurled over Pommard and Volnay, all the way to… READ MORE
Memorable 2003 Burgundy Harvest
I arrived in Mâcon on August 25th, anticipating that the harvest would start on September 1st –already at least two to three weeks earlier than customary. The hot weather began in mid-June and was still in the mid-nineties when I arrived. There were no green meadows on the Beaujolais and Mâconnais hillsides, just burnt trees… READ MORE
Harvest 2001 in Burgundy
Following six months of constant rain, cool weather and a wet Spring, the vines started to grow rapidly in May and blossomed in mid-June. July was wet and August stormy with, at times, very warm temperatures reaching 100°F. A terrible hail storm mostly localized in Volnay but also affecting adjacent Monthélie and Meursault, devastated most… READ MORE
