The weather, the weather – there’s not much else to talk about in 2024.
The year began mild, became cool and remains tempestuous. At best, the lower-lying vineyards are soggy but many, even at the end of May, are water-logged. The concern is growing about mildew…
The frost is, now, all but a fleeting memory; hardest hit was the Chatillonnais – but nobody mentions it as the region is known (almost) only as a source of grapes for crémant – here, the temperatures dropped to -5°C. Of course, if there is frost, Chablis always seems to be affected. In the Côte de Beaune, Maranges and some of Monthelie and the Hautes Côtes de Beaune suffered. Elsewhere, from the Mâconnais to Dijon, any damage was limited – it certainly couldn’t be described as a yield-limiting factor.
The rain continues to bear down on all the vineyards – making treatments to combat mildew barely possible. Some domaines are reporting – already before flowering – that they may lose a majority of their Bourgognes. Since 2007, the potential for mildew is currently similar to 2016 – which was saved by a great second half of the summer – and just a little behind the mildew levels reported in the 2012 and 2013 vintages.
And what of flowering? There are one or two outliners that I’ve seen images of, but it seems like next week (so just into June) will see the onset. This currently puts the potential harvest timing about average since 2007 – ie about 22-23 days earlier than the latest and, equally, later than the earliest.
Of course, this phase of tempestuous, turbulent, weather still brings a heightened risk of hail. Chablis, in addition to its frost damage, already lost significant yield in 1,000 hectares of vines to the 1st May hail – from a total of 6,000 hectares. Luckily (so far !!) both St.Bris and Irancy have avoided both frost and hail – my fingers remain crossed…
Two or three times a week the meteoexpress weather channel in the linked Instagram post, above, shows parts of France with heavy hail, an additional reminder – if any were needed – was the thunder and lightning in Chablis on Monday the 20th May afternoon – weather that seemed to follow me all the way back to Beaune via Dijon. At 8pm in Dijon, there were many leaves on the ground – or pieces of leaves! It was only when I consulted the meteoexpress feed in Instagram that I saw what happened in Dijon a couple of hours before I arrived – see the Instagram above. I understand that only the most extreme north of the Côte de Nuits vines were touched – not too viciously but it’s still too early to quantify the effect – in the sector of Marsanay’s Grasses Têtes.
Rainfall – so far the average this year is 380mm, which is around one-third more than the average of the 5 previous years.
As I was there this week, I managed to ask a few questions.
I’m sure that the growers were more downbeat a week ago but ‘what’s done is done’ is the attitude today. But to recap:
On the evening of May 1st, a sequence of hail storms worked their way through northern France, including the Auxerois regions of Chablis/Irancy/St.Bris & Tonnerre, etcetera. In Chablis, the storms arrived in 3 waves – they came right through the middle of Chablis and although both right and left bank vineyards were hit, some areas were spared. It was the third wave of hail that did the most damage.
20 village communes make up the Chablis appellation, the most hail-affected were Chablis itself, Fontenay-près-Chablis, La Chapelle-Vaupelteigne, Lignorelles, Ligny-le-Châtel, Maligny and Villy – so a third of those villages. Reports put about 1,000 hectares of Chablis’ 6,000 hectares as being badly affected – ie to the extent of losing much of the growth on the vine but with more limited damage to the wood of the vine, so pruning for next year may not be too difficult. Some areas already forecast total losses but it won’t be possible to properly estimate this year’s losses until the fruit-set after flowering – so in another 4-6 weeks. I can, however, leave you with some quotes:
Adrien Gautherin, Domaine Raoul Gautherin: “I was in the US and came back just in time for the hail! I’m well, certainly more well than the vines right now… But what’s lost is lost – we prune late so our growth was later so we lost slightly less – it’s bad but it’s far too early to quantify…”
Margaux Laroche, Domaine d’Henri: “Well, we had already lost 2 hectares to the frost and I think that we’ve mainly lost 6 hectares to the hail – and that’s from 21 hectares! We are typically buying the produce of another 6 hectares but we don’t know how much of that will remain – so, conservatively, I think we have lost – already – 40% of the vintage.”
Virginie Naudet, Domaine Moreau-Naudet: “Vaillons is ‘broken.’ 5 of our 11 hectares are in a really bad shape – including Valmur but we will wait for the sun when, hopefully, the vegetation will return.”
Jerôme Flous, Billaud-Simon/Faiveley: “This year we’ve already had frost and hail; the hail was very bad in some places – the grand crus for instance – but fortunately not our Clos, also not in neighbouring Montée de Tonnerre or our Mont de Milieu but the hail hit plenty of other 1ers – so it wasn’t everywhere. We shall have to wait and see what we’ve lost – but it’s clear that we’ve lost a lot…”
Given the relatively localised nature of the storms, a well-spread-out domaine may have lost 50%, others may have lost nearly everything or nearly nothing – such is hail…
Yesterday, just a few hours after my 2024 vintage update, Chablis was hit by hail.
Although I’ll be there on Monday, I’m asking around if it was localised or my widespread.
I’ll keep you posted…
Bill
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Les Corbeaux – 25 April 2024
The worry of frost is currently over across the whole of greater Burgundy, so what’s the status?
Frost in the Côte d’Or – update:
From the weather stations that are dotted around the Côtes, the minimum observed temperatures were –5°C in the Châtillonnais sector and almost -2°C in the lower part of Nuits St.Georges (the ‘station’ of Les Bouffales) and these were over the night of April 18 to 19.
During the last week, the average daily temperatures did not exceed 10°C – this week it is warmer. This cool spell combined with the cold nights has considerably slowed the growth of the vines.
So, no surprise, it is the Châtillonnais that has been most affected together with some southern sectors – like the chardonnay (mainly) in Maranges. I heard of some very affected areas in the valley that runs up from Monthelie to Nolay – optically high losses here and one vigneron bemoaning that his organic vines with ground cover look to have taken a hit of approaching 80%, whereas the herbicide-treated vines of a neighbour look 100% okay !!
There is talk of much damage in some parts of the Hautes-Côtes – but not others – I await a little more transparency here.
The rest of the Côtes, has some localised damage but it seems nothing that will have an obvious impact on the yields – but it remains possible that fewer flowers will be produced – so we will have to watch and wait for that.
Frost in Chablis:
Obviously, there will have been some yield-reducing challenges from the frost. I’m there on Monday, so will have some first-hand observations for you next week.
Frost in Beaujolais:
What frost? I was there last week (on Wednesday) and growers reported no frost at that stage – but Wednesday-Friday were forecast to dip down to 0°C in the nights – I have neither heard nor seen anything since, so assume, for now, no damage.
Rain !
It hardly stops !!
In April we had a proper month of April showers – indeed, more than showers! Lyon, last weekend, had almost 100mm of rain in one day – so much of (nearby) Beaujolais was, again, very well watered.
In the Côte d’Or, the weather station of Gevrey-Chambertin had already 99mm of rain collected by the 28 April. Volnay, by comparison, 50mm.
At the moment, it doesn’t look like, this summer, the Beaunois will be stopped from washing their cars to save water !!
So what of the vines?
After the hot – nearly 30°C weekend that followed Easter (13-14 April) the vine growth was well ahead of the norms and certainly matched the precocity of the 2020 vintage. The frost and the cool couple of weeks that followed have retarded the vigour of the vines and their stage of growth is currently classed as ‘average’ with a projected harvest just a couple of days ahead of last year’s 2023 campaign – but it remains very early days in terms of forecasting…
The main issue with the level of rain is that growers who have prepared areas for replanting, haven’t actually been able to get into the vineyards to plant! Many remain in consultation with their plant providers – the nurseries – as to whether they may end up being too late to plant…
I’m back to Beaune tomorrow. For now, a few photos from last week:
Monday 22 April 2024 – Pinot flowers forming in villages Chassagne…
I think that now is a good time to turn our attention to the 2024 vintage.
Vintages ending in a 4 have not had the greatest run of publicity; 2014 is an unheralded vintage but was actually an excellent-plus vintage for whites and a more ‘classic’ vintage for reds – people only seem to remember the reds though!
Pre-2014, we have a litany of poor (red!) vintages – 2004, 1994, 1984 & 1974 – we have to go back to 1964 to find a vintage with a decent reputation – though possibly the implied quality of that vintage has been augmented by failing memory !!
Back to 2024:
Although there were cold spells, and even a small dusting of snow to finish the year of 2023, the generality of the 2023-2024 winter was that it was another mild one.
With further mild weather in February and March (+3.6°C and +1.5°C respectively compared to average*) the vegetative cycle – ie the sap flowing back into the shoots from the roots – resumed ‘early.’ Early from a historical perspective but with ‘average’ timing in the context of most vintages since 2015. In some early-ripening areas, the first green leaves of chardonnay were visible before the end of March, though that coincided with some cooler weather that slowed the growth – a little.
*Figures from Beaune’s BIVB
At the same time, we can’t neglect the considerable amount of rain that has visited the region.
With seemingly 3 out of every 4 vintages now lacking rain in the summer, and continued discussions of the depth of the ‘water table,’ for now, 2024 is not like that. It’s fair to say that until mid-April this year, given the amount of standing water, the low-lying, flatter vineyards were good only for ducks. And it was much worse in Chablis, with the village of La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne twice cut off, the houses and cellars full of water. The second high-tide of water affecting also the centre of Chablis – the restaurant of Au Fils du Zinc also underwater (Instagram image below). The water-reserves of the vineyard areas seem to have been amply replenished – though in the quickly draining, sandy, granitic soils of the Beaujolais Crus, only 3-4 hot weeks can leave that as memory…
A rough rule of thumb is 800-1,000mm of rain per year – by the end of March, the region had already recorded 800mm since October – and since the 1st April, the Côte d’Or has received an average of more than 50mm more !!
So now to the roller-coaster of weather in April.
Images of April:
Ploughing Romanée-Conti
01 April
01 April
01 April
04 April
04 April
18 April
18 April – Bonnes-Mares of Bruno Clair
Easter was in early April this year and it coincided with warm weather – not as warm, though, as the end of that Easter week where temperatures hovered only a little under 30°C – for the uninitiated, that was nearly 85° Fahrenheit!
When warm weather and lots of rain coincide the vine-growth can be very fast – also the worry about mildew – growers were already talking about the possibility before the second leaves were visible !! The warmth and easy availability of water have led to, at this stage, one of the most precocious vintages – most of the vines now have three to six leaves showing per bud and the first flower buds are starting to show – at least, that was until it all turned cold at the end of last week.
Versus average temperatures, April has thus far delivered the most extreme variations of the vintage – so far – extremes of more than 10°C higher AND 10°C lower than the historic monthly (daily) averages.
The Clos des Grands Vignes in Premeaux
So we now have to talk about frost.
In the most recent vintages, frost has visited the vineyards at roughly the same time – 04-06 April – and lasted a few days longer in Chablis.
This year during 04-06 April there seemed to be no preparation to fight frost in the vines – the thought of frost seemed very far away considering the ‘Ice Saints’ day(s) (the Saint Glace*, 11-13 May after which there should be no more frosts) being still a distant 6 weeks away.
*According to European observations of the late Middle Ages, around the dates of the feasts of Saint Mamert, Saint Pancrace and Saint Servais, traditionally celebrated on 11, 12 and 13 May each year. Once this period had passed, statistically, frost occurs very rarely during or after the ice saints, though frosts are not impossible after these dates.
This confidence that there would be no frosts changed 1 week ago. Snow visited where I live (560m altitude) on Thursday 18 April, followed by weather forecasts with multiple nights getting close to zero degrees in Burgundy – at least the winemakers were no-longer worried about mildew!
This morning in Chablis, the water sprays and many windmills were deployed (below) – I have already seen images of frost-wilted leaves from Chitry – where of course, there are no water-sprays and candles are not economically viable. Plus some ‘moderate’ damage reported by Stéphanie Colinot in her Irancy vines.
A windmill has sat for many weeks in the middle of Louis-Michel Liger-Belair’s Nuits Clos des Grands Vignes – it has now been joined by many others – not least a couple in Freddy Mugnier’s Nuits Clos de la Marechale – also in Premeaux. In Morey and Gevrey both candles and warming cables have been deployed in the vines – there are even more candles and windmills in the Côte de Beaune. Florence Heresztyn tells me that her pinots are okay but she has plenty of damage in her local (Gevrey-Chambertin) chardonnay – as yet, the extent is not quantifiable.
So far, very few domaines have deployed frost-fighting measures – predominantly those with higher altitude appellations such as Olivier Lamy in St.Aubin. Vincent Latour in Meursault told me on Friday “I’ll keep my fingers crossed, they say about zero degrees but with plenty of wind so we might lose a bud here and there but hopefully not more.”
All is quiet on the Beaujolais front – so far. The temperatures have been 1-2° warmer than the Côte d’Or – but still sometimes touching 1°C…
Over the next few days, I’ll be visiting both Beaujolais and Chablis – so I’ll keep you posted. But for now, outside of Chablis, candle-lighting seems to have been more for the self-confidence of the wine-growers – a prophylactic more than an absolute necessity.
In January, I really didn’t have enough time in 3 weeks to visit all the Chablis domaines – or at least all the ones in my current list as it now extends to over 100 domaines! So I was back in ‘the north’ in March – with another trip planned for May!
In May, I’ll be mixing it up with a few visits in Irancy too.
The view to La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne
On the Sunday I was in the Côte d’Or and I have to say that the flatter vineyards in the Côte de Beaune looked ready for ducks – there were a lot of vine ‘feet’ under water. Whilst the water in Chablis’ river Serein looked high on Monday, I still wasn’t prepared for the road closures on Tuesday as the river burst its banks to fill many of the flood-plains in the area. The rain hadn’t been so heavy in Chablis, rather in the surrounding Morvan countryside – as much as 70-80 miles away – and it takes about 3 days for the floodwaters to rise in Chablis.
Chablis itself wasn’t too badly affected but the village of La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne (above) was under water – only partly accessible for me by taking a route descending the hillside from Beine.
The weather calmed – indeed this week we have sunshine in Beaune – it’s a nice change! For now, Burgundians can’t right now complain about a lack of water – it’s double what was seen at the same stage in 2022 and 2023 – but instead they can complain that it’s 22°C in the afternoon 🙂
The view from the top of l’Homme Mort towards Fourchaume
The view from the top of l’Homme Mort towars La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne…
Chablis views this week…
The weather has been very topsy-turvy in Chablis for the last 10 days – you could go as far as to say bizarre!
Last week I arrived to a hoarfrost – all the trees were white – but there was no snow. Tuesday morning when I did a short jog, it was -8°C. Tuesday evening when I did a long jog – it was warmer but still minus and there were snowflakes in the air. Wednesday lunchtime it was 15°C but Thursday morning we were back to -4°C !!
This week we seem to have settled around 13-14°C daytime temperatures and a lot of the buildings haven’t yet recovered from last week’s cold – so it’s often warmer outside. Yesterday was rainy – so nothing to see – today for an hour we had sunshine – and what did I see in l’Homme Mort? People pruning in t-shirts…
We have become accustomed to seeing that in recent years for a few days in February – but it’s not yet even February – pff!
Wall of Pinot Noir grapes for my cutting after leaf stripping
Sunday-Tuesday, Sept 24th-26th
Sunday
As with our previous Sunday at the end of Week 1 this was a free, non-working, day. Despite that I was up at my usual hour and was again on my own in the room as Chef, Jean-Michel, had again disappeared in his pickup vehicle, taking the opportunity to have the day off at home with his family. As had become usual, the first into the kitchen element of our dining cave were tractor driver and long term domaine harvest regular Philippe and myself. I only managed to ‘beat’ Phillipe into the kitchen area once and not by much ! He’s an incredibly nice guy, ex Sapeur-Pompier officer, disciplined, neat, tidy and organised in all he did, and one of my favourite people from the vendange. We were soon joined, again as usual, by Michel (Gros) and another ‘senior’, older guy – a long time harvest regular, Jean-Pierre – a guy of few words; a sub team leader and triageist in the vines. J-P was to leave later that morning with an impressive amount of domaine wine loaded into his car. I envied his ability to take material advantage of the vendangeur discount (well worth having !) available from the domaine when I knew UK Customs Import restrictions would limit me doh !
I had a number of activities lined up that I wanted/needed to address hence headed off to Beaune circa 9.00 a.m. My first, very necessary, ‘visit’ was to the BP Petrol Station on the south side of Beaune as I’d not bought any fuel since arriving in Southern England before subsequently boarding my ferry to France. My French leg journey, return trips to Beaune, and taxiing services for Florient and Padhraig had combined to trigger the fuel reserve warning on my thirsty BMW when I’d last been in it. I’ve always preferred to find BP stations since owning my previous BMW from new for BP’s Ultimate best fuel.
Post refuelling I headed around the Beaune ‘peripherique’ (as I like to call it) and just off the western side parked up under trees and walked into town, sleepier than usual on this day of the week although a goodly number of folk were out and about enjoying the nice sunny weather. My destinations were two fold:- the superb retailer which is Athenaeum ( Athenaeum) for wifely ‘holiday’ gifts’, and to find a souvenir type shop which might sell the stone coasters featuring domaine or wine ‘transfer’ imprints. Domestically we’d had a few of the latter for some years but some of them had cracked or been otherwise damaged. I ‘struck gold’ in Athenaeum as, after buying a cloth tote bag with nice vineyard scene which would go down well at home, I then belatedly noticed an item I’d been meaning to acquire for many a year. This is a Rat de Cave candlestick, modelled on those used throughout France in the 18th and 19th centuries, for lighting in wine cellars. Mrs MdMdlV is, domestically, a very keen afficionado of many things candle and tea light related – always a concern at potentially burning one’s home down ! But, I knew I’d move very quickly, if not instantaneously, into very ‘good books’ on my return to the UK if I produced said Rat de Cave – quickly purchased. Delighted with this I went back through the Place Carnot and onto the Rue Monge before I found a shop (one of only a few open as a Sunday) selling souvenirs, wine related artefacts, kitchenware etc which, happily, had a decent display of the desired coasters outside. The gentleman proprietor was happy to accompany back outside from the front of the shop and take my chosen four coasters from his display – two of the four chosen by me as relating to personal association as featuring Domaine Michel Noellat, 2019 & 2020 harvest employers.
So, good progress, two of my three tasks suitably accomplished I headed back out of Beaune to the Leclerc supermarket, off the D974, on the retail park before/adjacent to the A6. Here my ‘mission’ was twofold, namely:-
1) with a shopping list formed before I left the UK to acquire various regional products (tinned & otherwise), confectionery & drink (Cremants); and
2) get myself some food for lunch and dinner (sandwiches, crisps etc). Michel had politely made clear to me at breakfast that, as a non working day, lunch and dinner would not be provided – not a problem as I’d already assumed just that. I always enjoy a saunter around the Leclerc, a superior retailer to the Nuits Intermarche. I hadn’t really intended to buy any wine alongside my other shopping but, when idly ‘researching’ the Wine Sections, as I passed by on my way to my list purchases I couldn’t resist the surprise sighting (not expecting to see such a name in the Leclerc) of just a few (4) top shelf bottles of Domaine Laurent & Karen Boussey (Monthelie) 2020 Meursault ‘Les Meurgers’ . I’d had two previously enjoyable visits to the above domaine in Monthlie and, co-located, that of Denis Boussey, Laurent’s father. The wines of Laurent, a keen vineyard photographer, imho are markedly superior to his father’s. After my surprised double take at seeing the above bottles I did a quick mental calculation of how many bottles I could consider within the overall number of bottles I would take back to the UK & swiftly, with hand rubbing type satisfaction, removed three from the shelf. I would add to these later on my way around the store with two bottles of Domaine Vincent Prunier 2020 Auxey-Duresses Blanc, Auxey a village who’s wines I’ve long been keen on. I would have ideally liked to call, as in previous years, at Domaine Diconne in Auxey but had realised, reluctantly, that would not be possible in terms of time available and how many bottles I could repatriate without potentially falling foul of UK Customs.
Quite satisfied with my morning’s activities which would go a long way to setting me up for a smooth, post vendange departure ‘as and when’, I cruised back to Vosne. I’d seen just a handful of domaines in the vines heading to Beaune and similarly on my way back mostly, but not all, on the flat lands east of the route nationale.
Entering the domaine premises, having parked the car opposite, I headed for the dining cave intending to eat my sandwich lunch there and get one of my remaining stash of beers from one of the fridges. I was a little taken aback surprised, and not best pleased in truth, given the advices first thing of need to provide for oneself, to find lunch preparation under way for the remaining (the annoying, problematic, youth had all but one below departed on Saturday) Belgian element of three (Mother Francoise, the middle aged lady sax player, whom I’d never really taken to, her daughter, and the remaining 20 something pest, Bastian, perhaps her son who I was quite sure was one of the ring leaders in past bothers – he seemed to have lost much of his past cocky bravado now he was on his own), Philippe, Jean-Pierre and Michel. I readied myself to decline an anticipated invite but such was not forthcoming – rather rude to say the least I thought – so I headed down to the opposite end of the cellar to ‘enjoy’ my sandwiches, crisps and beer. Hum ! Finishing my lunch, I headed back through the kitchen, to my car & then bedroom to get laptop, camera, notebook etc to work thro the afternoon on stuff for Bill whilst following UK Sport on the internet. Coming back from my car I met Michel coming out thro the yard gates onto the street. He told me chattily he was off to visit his son in another village property he, Michel, owned in Vosne. I knew, or thought, Michel had three sons from his first marriage but chatting he surprised me by saying that he had 4 sons (Pierre, another who works in private banking in Paris, and two others). Michel further surprised, if not amazed me, in telling me the son he was off to visit had broken fibia and tibia in one leg in Clos des Reas on the first day of the vendange via jumping or similar over a row of vines – that was what I understood anyway. A goodly element of my surprise was that I’d no idea he’d had said son working with us on Day 1 or of the accident which had needed a hospital visit/treatment. Wishing his son a speedy recovery we parted but not before Michel reminded me there would be no evening meal – an ‘interesting’ comment after my lunch experience but one I took ‘on the chin’ ! Quasi related, I’d assumed Michel lived in Vosne, if not in the old, multi floored, house adjacent to Mugneret-Gibourg we were using, but this was not so. For the vendange Michel did indeed use some rooms off the first landing before the first floor my room and another were on. The ladies had rooms further up on two more floors. I can’t recall how it come out but someone told me he actually lived in Beaune with his second wife. This was mentioned to me as my informant, and have absolutely no recall who this was (honest !), also imparted that the 2nd Mrs Gros had no desire to live in a sleepy hollow wine village. During one of our Toyota trips Michel had laughingly said to me he wanted me to return to my wife in full health to which my response had been my wife was probably more bothered about clothes shopping than my vendange health. That comment had brought ready and amused shared agreement from Michel whilst he was driving. Recall of his comment at wives shopping came back to me when I was told of his maison being in Beaune. In a later conversation he told me where his Beaune house was – without too much detail near to Parc de la Bouzaise which I recalled from a randonee around the Beaune vineyards.
The afternoon passed peacefully & without interruption, the working yard of the domaine quiet outside the end of the cellar I was sat in for wi-fi range. Eventually, and thinking I should make myself scarce if there were to be supper for others, I initially retreated to my room with my working stuff before quickly sneaking back for a little bread & cheese plus the remains, from my second Beaune visit (before today), of a bottle of L & A Lignier, 2006 Morey St.Denis 1er ‘Cuvée Romain Lignier’ – very much enjoyed with my sandwiches, bread and cheese !
And so to bed for a rare early night. To come, at last, our final working day (or part thereof).
Monday
I’d meant to be up for 6.00 a.m. but slept to 6.10 before being in the dining cave for 6.45. It was at this point, from Phillipe I think, I finally learnt this would be our final morning. Breakfast included a pleasant surprise in that Michel, bless him – what a nice man, had already been out to a local boulangerie coming back with two large bags – one of pain au chocolats, the other croissants (and all good sized, ‘generous’ examples). Invited to help myself I happily tucked into a pain au chocolat with my Liptons breakfast tea which, after initial mornings of black coffees, had become my preferred daily starting drink of choice.
There still seemed to be plenty of us milling around the domaine gates pre departure, if not quite as before, but I also noted quite a few previously familiar faces to be missing – my friend Angela was no longer with us, nor was FonFon, Irishman Padhraig or Justine and, not to be missed, were the young couple of annoying work shy, do nothing, girl and boyfriend. I guessed that perhaps due to our vendange being protracted, and this being a Monday of a new working week lay behind the reduced team and absence of previous personnel. With the Citroen Jumpy not required I was happy to be back in prime position in Michel’s Toyota Land Cruiser in which we departed behind the minibuses and large white van, latter piloted as usual by the ever-engaging Flo of amusing bright blue framed spectacles.
My daily Michel Gros Toyota Land Cruiser taxi outside the cuverie pre a.m. departure
Car external temperature reading leaving Vosne a.m.
Early morning Vosne street view from domaine towards village centre
Final day early gatherings in street outside domaine – parking opposite
Final day early gatherings3 in street outside domaine – parking opposite
Cuverie early morning prep final day
Gabriel was still with us & as always giving us the benefit of his wisdom and expertise on anything and everything. Today he had again, for the first time in many days, brought his sweet dog with him although she remained in, or tied to the bumper of his car, at the domaine. There seemed to be something of an unedifying background to this dog which had deeply upset me when Gabriel first brought it with him on what I think was his second day. On that morning, which was wet and cold, I’d noticed it, before we departed for the morning, fastened to the rear bumper of his tatty, aged, dark red Peugeot 206 in the parking area. I’d tried, as is my wont, to befriend it (not scarred by my earlier Jack Russell experience) but had been a little shocked at the manner in which it continually pulled away from me, whilst cringing to the ground in highly subservient manner, and slightly wagging its tail in a pathetic way. I’d immediately taken the view that the animal, from appearance a Malinois type cross (but somewhat smaller than a full Malinois) had been, or was being, badly treated, if not beaten. On that initial day I’d tackled Gabriel directly at how the dog was behaving, and why that might be, making it quite clear I was upset and far from impressed. His response was matter of fact & that he understood my asking but said the dog was completely different with women i.e good, but had been ill treated before it came into his ownership. I wasn’t necessarily convinced and during the night that followed that day I had struggled to sleep properly thinking & worrying about the dog. If Gabriel had offered it to me I would have had a decision to make but would have taken it readily and if not able to give it a home myself (my cat back in England would not have been impressed) would have found it a decent one. On this day, in the little time before we headed to the Hautes-Cotes I did manage to make initial friends with, and show some human affection to Jessie, as was her name, when I was also joined by the very sweet Italian girl owner of Acho who certainly did know how to properly treat a dog.
Acho & Prunelle making sure everyone is sorted
Empty cases awaiting row distribution HCDN
More empty cases for the use of.
Francoise (L) & Odile (R) triaging cut grapes en caisse
Odile during rest break relecting on the vendange
The day was bright enough in Vosne as we left but cool & without any sunshine, the Toyota’s dash temp reading 8°C as we travelled. The Hautes-Cotes was a tad gloomy on arrival at the site we’d left before Saturday lunch – our 4th separate domaine HCDN terroir which I assumed was ‘Topet’ the fruit of which goes into the generic HCDN Rouge. We parked, as we’d done on the Saturday on the corner edge of a large grassy clearing just above the vines which dropped away down slope away from us. Initially, we strolled to the points in our initial rows from Saturday afternoon where we’d stopped for the day and recommenced to finish those rows off. I was again in tandem with the bespectacled young French guy and a new individual, a middle aged Afro-Caribbean lady. The latter who seemed of an unfriendly disposition, and not to know anyone, turned out to be a bit of a pest and annoying. Principally this was because she stopped on several occasions for lengthy (and loud) conversations on her mobile phone but when that wasn’t frustrating enough she failed to work suitably in tandem with myself and the French guy, i.e from and to the correct points between post sections. Early on in proceedings I decided that as it was our last day ‘that life was too short’ to let her bother me further and just to concentrate on myself. Finishing the first rows at the bottom of the vineyard we had a decent water break rest before turning around and working back up hill in new rows towards the vehicles. At one point as we worked Acho suddenly appeared beside me chasing something in the grass which turned out to be a mouse or vole. As he was about to grab it by my feet I managed to deflect him away with the prey animal escaping under a bucket and around a case thro the row to its other side. I thought I’d saved his target but learnt shortly thereafter he’d subsequently caught and eaten it !! There was plenty of volume of Pinot here again as the case across most of the Hautes-Cotes terroir but here again occasional rot to require disciplined self triage and quite a lot of what my colleagues called ‘rose’ bunches, not properly ripe or suitably coloured such that quite an amount of this stuff was dumped on the ground. At one point, and towards what was to become the conclusion, my group was joined in cutting/picking by both Michel and Philippe.
Early a.m. HCDN sunshine looking upslope
Michel sorting teams out after a.m. arrival on HCDN
Glorious early a.m. sunshine down the HCDN rows
Full triaged case on tractor trailer
1st HCDN rest break c10.20 – Gabriel to right in hat
Come c11.00 a.m. I was a little startled to hear a final finish called as I’d been expecting we’d work to at least c12.00/12.30 & possibly a little beyond if that was necessary to get us to a suitable draw a line point (as had occasionally happened with Arlaud & M Noellat). As it was we left some yards of our final rows unfinished which I assume the domaine staff would complete later. Naturally my colleagues were keen to head back to Vosne but, as tradition for a vendange conclusion, not before various greenery was gathered to decorate/attach to the vehicles. Before everyone left and I missed my chance I shouted entreaties to request a final group photo shot – not just for myself but also for the Domaine as sometime in the last day or so Juliette had asked me if I would share my vendange photos for the Domaine’s use – ready agreement of course. From the two Group photos I took here I subsequently counted 24 individuals. To be added for final headcount would be me, Gabriel, Philippe, Sofiane and Jerome (the latter 4 not available for the photos as in the vines collecting cases onto the tractors and trailers). So, as our finale, 28 of us without including Michel, Pierre, Juliette and their other domaine employees. There were 3 additional guys helping in the cuverie so as I saw it we finished as approximately a reduced group of 31 from a peak headcount of somewhere between 50-60 in week 1.
Francoise (L) & Odile (R) triaging cut grapes en caisse
Odile during rest break relecting on the vendange
End of final morning group shot2
The dogs had exciting vendanges – this is lively Onyx
Final tractor on way out of HCDN towards Vosne
Top nice guy Phillippe in usual tractor position
Tractor team exiting – Left to Right Michel, Sofiane & Jerome
After the minibuses and white van had disappeared, I enjoyed a little welcome time alone with my reflective thoughts waiting by the Toyota once I’d collected & stowed in the rear the extraneous stuff such as water panniers, cups, a couple of spare cases, one or two items of clothing and a couple of the small blue tripod seats. This short quiet time was a brief, pleasant, interlude during which I watched both a hawk and then some noisy jays along the tree/hedge line on the vineyard edge. I was initially concerned, waiting for the final guys, then amused, to note my camera had ‘expired’ after the Group shots. As subsequently confirmed the battery had finally gone flat, without me noticing the reducing power level, but after lasting the full vendange – well done Canon ! I’ve owned my Canon G16 from 2014 thus, whilst maybe now not the last word in upto date camera technology, it has ‘survived’ quite some ‘abuse’ (wet, dirt etc) and given sterling service through 8 harvests. I’d like to be more ‘into’ photography but am not and, in truth, use my camera little outside my vendanges and the odd family holiday hence for now, and with the G16 still going, find it hard to justify expense of an upgrade, particularly when there’s always more wine to buy !
Eventually, with Philippe and Gabriel taking the laden tractor/trailer combos back to Vosne, I was joined by Michel, Sofiane and Jerome, three fine chaps all, for our final exit from the delightful, much enjoyed, Hautes-Cotes and return to Vosne via the now familiar route through the residential outskirts of Nuits St Georges, then the vines, to the Domaine.
Flo’s Camion suitably traditionally decorated for vendange end
Tractor collecting last HCDN cases in distance after team departure
Cuverie Giraffe with HCDN Pinot grapes
Cuverie team dealing with incoming grapes – nice young Italian in bucket hat
An earlier than usual lunch was salad starter, carbonara, cheese and fruit. I was pleased to see Gabriel, who’d beaten us back to Vosne with the first tractor departure, and was amongst the greedier element first into lunch, had brought dog Jessie into the dining cave (the other dogs were commonly present at lunch/dinner) and that she seemed very happy and enjoyed the odd titbit passed her way as well as being fussed over by folk passing her end of table position. Bless. Post wine and coffee, and back outside, quite a queue had formed to go into the office (bureau) to one by one see Juliette to receive wages and the complimentary ‘bonus’ 3 bottle box of wine before those then leaving (most folk) said their goodbyes – for me this notably included Sofiane (a really nice guy), young man of few words Julian, and originally from Lebanon Clodagh who was amongst the first to nicely chat to me on Day 1, and was one of our few who’d worked the full vendange. I’d agreed with Juliette I was happy to wait to collect my wages the following day – no rush.
After folk had largely drifted away, including room-mate Chef, & personally at something of a loose end, with my thoughts already turning to my own departure (I’d previously decided Tuesday having secured Juliette’s agreement I would be ok to stay one more night in my room but detecting I’d be pushing it to ask for longer !) I started my in room, and then to car, packing – separating work and non-work attire, and with the worn, dirty gear, I’d piled into a corner to all go in black bin liner. I binned my oldest, splitting, and well-worn pair of knee pads along with gloves past their further useful use date, keeping only my now favourite De Walt knee pads and good gloves. I also decided on my travelling clothing, keeping that to one side. With time to kill, and not enthused to get on my laptop immediately, I set off to the cuverie, & whilst passing through the shared yard saw the Mugneret-Gibourg team pressing in the entrance to their cuverie. The Mugneret-Gibourg sisters had from Day 1 been super friendly nice with/to me. We never saw each other without exchanging the time of day, or more besides. Lovely people. Their small cuverie team of 4/5, two of whom were also female, were similarly supa friendly, always calling greetings across the yard (their cuverie door was almost opposite the kitchen entrance end of the Gros dining cave). On this afternoon, intrigued by the pressing, after a few days were the M-G cuverie work had been ‘quiet’, seemingly completed, I wandered across to be told they were pressing Ruchottes-Chambertin grapes – wow ! The cuverie smell was headily to die for. Leaving them to continue I dived thro the Gros cave to the far end, up into the domaine yard proper, and into the Gros cuverie where I found Pierre had made a short visit – congratulations on the birth of Constance were in order & received shyly with thanks.
I can’t recall exactly what I did for supper – think it might just have been 3 or 4 of us finishing off leftovers. My car was as packed as it could be other than stuff needed for overnight and morning ablutions hence, after I’d used my laptop & wi-fi for the final time to book a DFDS Calais – Dover 18.00 hrs Tuesday ferry, I turned in for my last night. The old multi floored Gros house was now eerily quiet with myself the only occupier. All beds bar mine were stripped ready for laundry and rubbish had been collected to bin bags.
Tuesday
Just myself, Philippe who would also leave that morning for his Belfort home, and Michel at my final breakfast. Disappointingly, if unsurprisingly, the pain au chocolats from Monday morning had all gone so I had to content myself, no hardship, with Michel’s entreaties to finish off the croissants. I mused on my timetable for the day. I reasoned I should aim to be away from Vosne by approx. 11.00 a.m, to pace myself ( and the car for fuel economy), and allowing for comfort break stops, to arrive Calais ferry port check in by 17.00 hrs. I had scope in my UK wine import allowance to allow for a last 6 pack so decided to head for Domaine Arlaud to say my goodbyes there and, if possible, acquire some of their HCDN Chardonnay which I’ve always enjoyed (if not for a few years). After Arlaud I would have time to come back to Gros, collect my wages and wines, then head for the autoroute with a pitstop at the Nuits Intermarche to buy some lunch. I already agreed a Southern England overnight stop at my Aunt’s in Sevenoaks, Kent from where I would, on Wednesday, complete the last leg of my c650 mile return journey to North West England.
Heading for my car I met the just arriving Juliette (and Prunelle) and confirmed I’d be back for wages etc. Off to Morey, taking a route through the vines from the Vougeot roundabout, to Chambolle, then Morey passing Bonnes-Mares and MSD Ruchots amongst other terroirs. Dropping down thro Morey to the route nationale I caught, without being able to properly take in, with eyes needing to be on the street, a quick glimpse of the new, completed, Dujac premises extension which had been a building site when I last saw in 2020. At Arlaud cheery greetings from the cuverie guys, a great bunch, notably Mathieu and Climent. Cyprien turned out to be in a serious looking meeting with his main office lady but broke off to speak. To buy some wine would be problematic he explained he would need to pull one of the guys off what they were doing to label, foil, and pack what I wanted. This clearly would not work for me so I said I would leave, hopefully for 2024. Cyp professed himself very happy with the harvest – in line with my experience – quantity and quality. I bade my farewells and headed back to Vosne to be invited into the office by Juliette and given my wages. To my surprise, as I’d assumed without too much thought I’d be paid direct to my UK bank account, my wages were in cash – net of the cost of the discounted wines I’d subscribed for pre-vendange. I didn’t want to rudely study the paperwork but quickly noted I’d received my largest harvest salary by some distance even after paying for the aforesaid wines – nice ! In line of course with the hours worked as also by some distance my longest harvest worked. From this point it was just a matter of my wines being brought out on a palate for loading into my car reversed into the yard, confirming to Juliette I would send her all my harvest photos which she was keen to have, and then saying my goodbyes to all present – regrettably not including Michel who was unexplained absent – a pity.
And so, regretfully as in all good things must come to an end, I left the Rue des Communes for the last time. Quick ‘pitstop’ at the Nuits Intermarche to acquire lunch & bottled water then across town to join the A31 at the Nuits interchange heading north, soon leaving Burgundy behind, and eventually to Calais, just needing a foot down, quick spurt in the final kilometres to arrive on time.
And so endeth my 14th vendange, my first with the most excellent Domaine Michel Gros, courtesy of the well-timed initial opportunity alert from Bill which enabled me to ‘sign up’ at the outset. Thank you Bill, and for publishing my photo illustrated experiences. My favourite vendange ? Not really, not because I didn’t enjoy it – I absolutely did – but because I don’t have a favourite. Each harvest is a differing unique experience. What set this one apart was a new domaine, the manner in which the domaine conducted the harvest which was very professional, a very well-paced working environment with our never being worked unduly hard, weekend breaks, excellent accommodation and meals (up there with the best I’ve experienced), super people with Michel Gros just a fabulous stand out supa nice man, and odd quirks for me such as this being the first of fourteen harvests were I didn’t (need to) get involved in such as bucket cleaning (and was actively told not to !). New terroir experiences were very welcome, Richebourg wow (!) and, whilst ‘purists’ and others might look down their noses and/or be ‘sniffy’ about the Hautes-Cotes, I just loved being up there and experiencing those terroirs. To the domaine, and most of my fellow vendangeurs, thank you – it was wonderful; hope to see you all again next year.
I think I deserve a glass or two of Burgundy now – what shall I open 😊 ?
No, this wouldn’t be our last day yet. I’d not heard any whispers as to when we’d be ‘done’ so onwards and upwards again to the Hautes-Cotes and to the same site from yesterday – which I’d taken to be ‘En Fretoilles’. Seemed a lot cooler first thing on this morning, the Toyota’s dash digital temp reading 7/8 degrees C, and which started cloudy, grey and overcast. As mentioned in my Day 13 words we’d ‘lost’ Pierre Gros some days earlier due to his wife’s confinement &, as always after Pierre’s absence, before we left Vosne Michel left instructions for the cuverie team in his absence. I never ascertained the nature of the instructions but, from what I saw from a distance, such looked very comprehensive, filling more than one side of a page of an A4 writing pad. Once again, from the car during our journey out of NSG towards Meuilley, I saw 2/3 small wild deer moving along a field hedge line – safe from the Sunday chasse on this day.
Vista down row of HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet) vines
Michel with little height advantage looking for the tractor
Water Station
Vista over HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet) vines
Michel2 with little height advantage looking for the tractor
Once we arrived Michel went on ahead from the parking area whilst we sorted ourselves out with buckets and personal ‘equipment’ – in my case secateurs, gloves, knee pads and camera with my drink cup clipped to the belt of my pants. Making our way through the trees and down into the vineyard I was much amused to see Michel ahead of us – I say amused as, at the end (or beginning !) of a row some way in front of/below us he was on his large mobile phone whilst standing on an upturned empty case looking into the distance. All looked slightly comical but what I guessed he was doing was looking to sight a far-off tractor on the other side of the vineyard (hence his wanting height !) and presumably to sort out, and make sure of, empty case distribution along the rows we’d be working on. In terms of sub teams I can’t recall exactly now but believe there to have been certainly 3, possibly 4. We were still seeing a few departures and one or two new faces. The Hautes-Cotes weather first thing mirrored that we’d left behind in Vosne i.e cloudy, grey & overcast yet no overt threat or sign of rain. Certainly jumper and/or jacket weather.
There seemed to be a bit of ‘messing about’ in terms of setting up teams to specific rows of vines but eventually we got started. I was paired (doubled up) with a young, diffident, bespectacled French guy of few words who’d only recently joined & who was taking no chances with the weather dressed, similarly to myself, in navy cagoule and over trousers. We worked well in tandem, of similar ability/speed, albeit with few words exchanged. Long rows here as I may have said previously, and with a slight curve on them, and downslope topography, we couldn’t sight the end of the rows until very close which mentally seemed to make the rows seem even longer. Plenty of leaf stripping required. Sizeable volume of fruit again albeit some rot evident requiring a careful approach and self- triage of affected bunches. As the morning wore on the weather improved to become sunny, warmer and with some blue sky before reverting again to grey and cloudy as we came up to lunch time. During the spell of nicer weather at one point we were distracted by the sound of (non jet) aero engines. Such came from a number of historic (WW2 ?) vintage looking aeroplanes, maybe 8-10, in loose formation, none bomber size large, which flew lowish above us across the vines from the direction of Arcenant towards Marey-les-Fussey and beyond causing us all to stop and watch. No one seemed to know what these planes were all about, presumably on their way to/from some sort of display/historic event. My own knowledge of historic aircraft was lacking, French ones even more, so as to prevent any sort of identification, and nor did I hear any knowledgeable comment from any of the others. An interesting diversion nevertheless – one never knows what one might see during a vendange ! We also had overflights here from one or two birds of prey. At the end of the row, with welcome drinks break, I was much amused to see the elderly owner of lively pooch Onyx giving the dog some welcome canine hydration by Onyx slurping his adept fill of water from paper cup refilled a couple of times. Onyx was a bit of a scream with us, seemingly of inexhaustible energy, very friendly, and always ready for ‘play’, with his ‘party piece’ being if one approached him with a view to a stroke he would stand, tail wagging, until one got very close whereupon he’d bark, jump back, and then tear off in a circle at speed with more excitable barking, wanting to be chased, before coming to a halt, panting, tail wagging ready to have the same play all over again. Very engaging & very much a fun dog.
Full cases at end of row in HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet)
Finishing row in HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet)
Acho resting from his digging but Onyx still at it
Onyx not giving up with his hole
Onyx still full of energy
Back to Vosne for lunch in the Citroen Jumpy again with young Justine from Alencon as chauffeur, Michel not wanting me to be detained waiting for the Toyota guys even though I’d have been happy to hang about
Post lunch a surprise ! Justine and boyfriend weren’t working the afternoon as due to leave later (that wasn’t the surprise !) so the Jumpy crew were reduced to self, Angela, and FonFon. I might have returned to the Toyota but seeing Angela and FonFon sitting in the Jumpy I thought “why not” and with a tad of initiative got behind the wheel. Michel signalled he was ok with this and once I’d learnt where the handbrake was (the opposite of where I’d expected) we were free to go. In this, my 14th vendange, this was the first time I’d been ‘allowed’ to drive anything (other than my own car !). Quite a nippy little machine, my only slight alarm coming on our route across the vines from Vosne to Nuits when, on a very rough section of vineyard track, whilst seeking to avoid the larger pot holes, I inadvertently dipped a wheel briefly off the tarmac to the briefest consternation of my passengers but kept the thing on the straight and narrow 😉. We’d been up to the Hautes-Cotes that often knowing the route wasn’t an issue, even remembering the last section of rough track through the woods above Chevrey to the morning’s site, but all three of us were somewhat surprised when we got to the parking area to find no sign of anyone else or any other vehicles !!! We sat there for what seemed quite a while but just when I was beginning to worry that perhaps we should be somewhere else (!) the minibuses and van arrived from the opposite direction we’d come from – phew !
Once again, we had to cope, as on the previous day, with rain starting to fall just before we were about to start on the afternoon rows, requiring under cover shelter in the same copse of pines as previously. Some person or individuals had clearly been camping or similar in this sheltered copse as the remains of a fire were visible along with various elements of litter including drinks cans. Naughty. The rain soon blew over allowing us to set too on the next rows below those from the morning but against a cloudy grey sky albeit there was no further rain to bother us. The stand out feature of the afternoon for me was another quite hilarious doggy moment. This involved both Acho and Onyx who at one point suddenly started excitable, and almost violent scrabbling & then digging, with much excitable whining and the odd bark, in the grassy middle between two rows. Quite what caused this wasn’t clear to me but someone suggested a mouse, vole or similar. The two dogs had their own gradually increasing size of hole close to each other but both went ‘at it’ for quite some minutes, oblivious to the grape picking going on around them. Acho seemed to tire, or lose interest, more quickly but Onyx persisted until he’d excavated a larger hole than his companion (large enough to get a human foot in) before he too seemed to decide he wasn’t going to achieve anything other than very mucky paws and face ! A very engaging and amusing distraction. My own sub team finished our rows before the other teams so went to help wrap up with the laggards.
Pinot in En Fretoilles (or Topet)
Onyx and Acho with latter’s owner
View back up completed row in HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet)
Leaving completed row in HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet)
Coming up to 16.00 hrs I was a tad surprised we were shifted to a wholly new site, roughly back in the direction of Au Vallons, but accessed from going deeper into the woods. The land here initially sloped gently downwards from our grassy parking spot before a sharper, almost roller coaster type dip about half way down then with a rise to the wooded edge on the far side. Again high trained vines, fully grassed areas between the rows, wide enough for tractor passage. We worked until a halt was called at the usual time (would have been somewhere between 17.00hrs – 17.30hrs) by which time we were probably about a third or more down the rows. I had become increasingly irritated (kept to myself), as the afternoon wore on to the close, by a young female, probably early 20s, track suited, make up, nail polish etc. She and her similar in type boyfriend had joined us a day or two before and I hadn’t noticed previously but this ‘young lady’ was extremely work shy, and some, just seeming to hang around her boyfriend or ‘fiddle about’ in the cases of grapes ‘pretending’ to triage. This pair, her and boyfriend, were notable also for being amongst the first individuals to have ‘their noses rapidly in the trough’ at lunchtime, and greedy with it. If our table had run out of bread there was absolutely no question of either of them getting off their posteriors to go and cut some more – as the rest of us regularly did icon. We were to see a lot more of their behaviours on our next working day and, whilst the guy picked fairly solidly, his girlfriend continued to show her lack of desire such that ultimately I inevitably came to the conclusion she was ‘conning’ the domaine in terms of pay, benefits etc for practically zero effort/return. If we’d continued much longer my ‘patience’ would have ‘cracked’ and I’d have been moved to say something but as it happened that didn’t come about.
Once the finish call came we, as just 3 of us, (self, super Angela, and FonFon) had the Citroen Jumpy smartly away before the other vehicles and lead the ‘convoy’ of the other vehicles all the way back to Vosne. We’d have been the first back into the parking area at the domaine but I made a tactical error as we came into Vosne. From the start of the vendange the street on which the domaine sat had been made one way only (from north to south) by temporary road sign by the Mairie. As a consequence, throughout the vendange when we returned to Vosne at lunchtime/evening (and I was previously Michel’s passenger) from the south we’d taken a quasi circular route to the left of the Mairie, past Domaine Georges Noellat and others, continued a short way, then turned right down a narrow street to come out facing the Liger-Belair bar/restaurant/accommodation building I’ve referred to in one of my earlier diary words (where we’d watched the France v. Uruguay World Cup rugby one evening in week 1). Turning right there it was only yards to Domaines Mugneret-Gibourg and Michel Gros. Being well behaved (generally) and law abiding, whilst I noticed the one-way street sign had gone as we came into Vosne past Clos des Reas, I wasn’t confident I should ‘break the habits’ of the vendange and take the direct route up the street to the domaine. Thus I took the route above we’d been using all vendange……………but as the only vehicle to do so as my minibus and van chauffeuring colleagues seized their moment such, to my chagrin on behalf of my passengers, we were the last vehicle into the domaine parking area having been the lead vehicle all the way from the Hautes-Cotes – doh ☹ !!!
Panniers ready for emptying in En Fretoilles (or Topet)
My Sub Team rest break in En Fretoilles (or Topet) – Alex to foreground
Rest after completion of long rows in HCDN En Fretoilles (or Topet)
That was essentially ‘it’ for this day, with a number of departures of folk we would not see again, other than, when logging onto the wi-fi for my evening home-work, I noted I’d received an email ‘circular’ from the domaine (Juliette) to the vendangeur emailing list which was a forwarding mail from Pierre (Gros) with family photos and the following narrative:-
“Annonce naissance Constance”
Bonjour à tous,
Camille et moi sommes heureux de vous annoncer la naissance de notre fille Constance jeudi à 8h31.
Elle pèse 3,3kg et se porte bien. Son grand frère Jules est très fier, quoiqu’encore un peu intrigué.
Vous trouverez ci-joint quelques photos de la merveille.
A bientôt
Amitiés
Pierre et Camille GROS
To save use of Google Translate, the above was the happy announcement from proud parents, Pierre Gros & wife, Camille, of the birth the previous Thursday of new daughter Constance, weight 3.3 kg, as a sister to big brother, Jules, the latter described as very proud if not a little intrigued. Bless. I’m afraid I don’t know the age of young Jules but a nice and happy ending to our Day 14 with a new vendange bebe!
