I arrived in Beaune today, just like I will every week from now until Christmas – some weekends will spent here along the way too. There are just so many 13s to taste and put into some sort of digestible format before the en-primeur offers hit your mailboxes – mainly in January, but some of the schemers (merchants!) are now even sending out their offers in December!

Actually I’d prefer to do all these tastings exactly as I have this year: I mainly tasted the 12s after assembly or bottling. But now I’m up and running with the ‘EXTRA!’ report, readers won’t wait for that – reduced or fizzy people want to know: to buy or not to buy, as Will S would say…

It’s still unseasonably warm here, but it feels just a little cooler because there’s such a gusting wind – occasional heavy downpours too. Still, I’m dry, and despite a little jogging too. I’d planned to crop and post the last of the images for my September report tonight – but it looks like it’s now slipped into Thursday – that’s because a public health imperative intervened! My lodgings were shared with winemakers doing a stage, but now it’s just me – actually not just me – there seemed a mountain of mouldy stuff in the kitchen. I really didn’t know where to put the food I’d just bought. So! Sleeves rolled up, I attacked, defrosted and cleaned the fridge and the freezer. The dishwasher looked frightful too – so all the things that didn’t look properly clean were loaded-up, the ECO program was junked and a long 70°C wash is ensuing as I type. I expect to be able to eat my breakfast from the inside of that machine tomorrow. Okay, gastroenteritis now avoided (hopefully!), I will return to more productive typing tomorrow – oh, but only after visiting 5 domaines…

And for the record, the EXTRA! timetable:

September Issue: This week, is the harvest info issue.
October Issue: Mid-November, is the ‘white domaines’ 2013s issue
November Issue: Mid-December, is the ‘red domaines’ 2013s issue
December Issue: Hopefully as a Christmas present will be the ‘Grandes Maisons 2013s’ as here
January Issue: 2nd half of February, will be the Chablis 2013 issue…