It was a long, fun day today in Pommard; The weather is right for picking as it is overcast, cool, and no rain. This is good news for some folks as August weather was not too kind to those in some villages as they were hammered by periods of hail. Villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey St. Denis, Pommard, and Volnay experienced some severe hail that damaged a few of the vineyards causing rot in on some of the vines. Interesting though, was the randomness of the hail. Not only did some villages experience littlle or no hail, some vineyards had experienced hail only in small portions. this was the case for example in Clos Vougeot. I spoke with Chantal Tortochot yesterday as we helped her sort grapes. “The lower portion of Clos Vougeot”, & she said, “received heavy portions, while the upper level received no hail at all”. She went on to say that even with the damage they are harvesting some great
grapes.

Quite a conrast however from the 03 vintage. Late cool weather has been a problem for some. The grapes show great acid levels but fully ripe grapes are not found on all clusters. But most producers are very pleased with the harvest. Jean Luc Joillot, in Pommard is very happy with his harvest. “The grapes are well balanced,” he told me, “many vineyards like Les Rugiens qnd Les Charmots, received no hail and the fruit is nice. With the more difficult vineyards, we are just taking more time to sort the grapes and remove the bad stuff; The grapes that survived the damage are going to make some great wine. We shall soon see. As always in Burgundy, challenges are a way of life. You just do everything you can to allow the wine to make itself. But we’re certainly having fun here trying to stay out of the way. My back hurts, but the wine is soothing that each night.

Tommorow we are off the sorting tables and in the vineyards; Photos and reports to follow.
From Pommard
John (Goldenslope)