2018 harvest – 1 september

1.9.2018billn


Pernand Le Pin – being pressed.

Our harvest day number 5…

Green and gold:
That’s how the triage table began this morning – villages Pernand – from relatively high up. At certain times the grapes on the table had me thinking of David Beckham – or rather his nickname – golden balls…

In recent times, relatively often have been the vintages where some proprietors claim that the grapes were so good that triage wasn’t necessary – of-course we who trie know better! But, this year, save for the extraction of leaves, and of-course not for vineyards touched by hail, I see a case for describing our 2018 triage as superfluous. There is a certain piece of mind that comes with triage, even this year, but for a number of vines, so little have we removed that I don’t expect a material difference to the wines.

Exceptional is a descriptor that has become overused to the extent that everything is now exceptional – like 93-95 point villages wines – but I can easily say that every other vintage that I’ve triaged since 2004 has not been like this one! Of-course the amount that you have to throw away is not the whole story, even the analytics are only the framework of the wines to, they don’t tell you about their texture, manner of delivery of flavour, or the wines’ complexity even if they may hint at the character – for that we will taste in another 12 months…

The rest of our day was Chorey-lès-Beaune rouge – the domaine has over 2 hectares – so it will be most of tomorrow too! The first deliveries needed a more ‘classical’ triage – much more unripe and a suggestion of rot here and there – this part of the vineyard is shaded by trees and is always wet – every year it’s problematic. Subsequent deliveries were more in the vernacular that has been set by other vineyards – still some rare bunches with rot, but virtually no unripe fruit. Apparently the soils are ‘worked’ here – but timing is everything! There is so much clay in the soil that the vineyards are impossible to enter when it’s very wet, or ploughing is ineffective when it’s very dry as the clay becomes concrete-like!

As noted yesterday, many, many more people were picking today as it was the 1st of September – a few images below of pickers in Beaune vines…

2008 Maison Saint-Nicolas, Volnay 1er Taillepieds
I don’t know this label – an hommage to Nicolas Potel maybe(?) He’d already left the Maison of his own name at this time…
Modest colour. Really a good nose of depth, complexity and flowers – not so wide. Fresh but with weight and width. A young palate but still a moreish wine. Tasty…
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