The day starts with about 12°C but peaks around 23°C – the week seems set like this – that will be perfect.
It’s Sunday so there are not many people ‘about’ – that said I did my touring between 12h30 and 15h30 – so that’s also peak eating time – we are, of-course, in France!
First a little grand cru hommage in Vosne-Romanée – nobody was in the vines and, so-far, virtually nothing has been picked – just Arnoux-Lachaux yesterday in their Aux Reignots…
Onward through Nuits and to the south there was simply no-one in the vines. In Ladoix I turned-off, up the hill into Corton, and here, at last, were people harvesting – it was the team of the Hospices de Beaune bringing in Corton-Vergennes Blanc. All the way round to Pernand I saw just one other team starting to set up in Corton-Charlemagne – it looked a big team too – but I was the other-side of the vineyard so didn’t speak with anyone. At the bottom of the hill – next to Corton Vigne au Saint was a machine harvesting villages Aloxe-Corton. The next machine harvesting we met was in the bottom of Beaune. Just one other team were working in Beaune at this time and – yes it was the Hospices again, in their parcel of Teurons.
There was nothing to report in Pommard, but on the far side of the village in Volnay were two teams just starting – Domaine Clerget in their 1er Cru monopole Volnay Verseuil – quite the prettiest triageurs seen this year(!) and on the other side of the road, Mark O’Connell’s team in his 1er Cru monopole of Clos de la Chapelle.
The grapes are looking great this year – and there are plenty of them in most vineyards. The reds have some patches of sun-burn and the raisined grapes are the tastiest I can remember – all very clean. Many of the lower vineyards show some yellow leaves due to the lack of rain in the last weeks. So, it’s looking like a fine vintage, so-far.