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Vintage 2012

ice and frost

Some burned leaves in the Côte d’Or today – Santenay mainly – frost and ice on very young leaves from the buds that have already burst – I hope it’s rather limited. In theory we were 2-3 days ahead of (even) last year, which predicted another harvest start in August, but this may have made live much more difficult / more heterogenous.

in the misty vines…

in the misty vines…

Two atmospheric pictures courtesy of Caroline Lestimé of Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard; spreading a little manure compost in their vines yesterday, in the mist…

back from the frosty côtes

back from the frosty côtes

Just back from one and a half days in the Côtes, and maybe this is already a good time to discuss the weather. The landscape this week was quite magical – in fact my photos don’t do it justice; freezing mist but still with about 400m of visibility, sometimes more as glimpses of the hillsides made appearances. The temperature was about -5°C causing the moisture in the air to crystallize onto all available surfaces; the vineyards looked like there had been snow. As for those temperatures – about time too! For weeks after the 2011 harvest the Côtes had warm temperatures and dry, sunny weather, in fact 2011 was one of the driest on record, despite intermittent rain through the summer. This was perfect for [....]