It’s just after Lunch and we have already had a full day. And Lunch is no fast food dive here…They go all out. More food than you can possibly eat and just when you can’t eat another bite, out comes Le Fromage. And of course what’s a meal without wine. Today’s lunch included a great Chardonnay from Jura. It’s early afternoon and boy do I want a nap. No time for that though, it’s back to the vineyards.

Picking grapes is much of what you expect or hope, but much much more. And lots of singing too. I don’t know the words, but who cares, I sing along anyways. Every evening meal begins ends that way. And I am catching on… especially to the harvest favorite, “A glou, a glou…” Last night I lead a rendition of “DO WAH DITTY DITTY DUM DITTY DO” which everyone seemed to love. Who knows maybe I started a tradition. We’ll see tonite.

Any ways, about picking… it was quite an adventure but it’s back-breaking work! Jean Luc Joilllot, the winemaker and owner of the vineyard, is very selective about the fruit he uses for the final wine. Much time and attention is given, even prior to sorting, to select only the best grapes. Not a difficult task really except that the key is to do it quickly. I certainly didn’t want to be labeled the slow American. Not that I would have known it. There’s a lot of pressure on you when you’re picking for the reputation of your entire country, you know. And it is essential to watch your fingers…those clippers are sharp! Well about 2 hours in, it happened. I was zipping along and snip – Ouch! Of course I didn’t say anything… don’t want the label of the wimpy American either. So there I am, snipping away, blood dripping from my hand and thinking to myself, “This cut is going to get infected, I’m going to get gan green and my arm is going to have to be amputated.” But at least I will have proof of being Burgundy for the harvest. A great story to tell my grand kids. By the way, grape acid is a good antiseptic… I hope.

So we picked quite a few grapes. Chardonnay and a little Aligote, not Pinot. And the grapes looked like a post card. A little rot here and there, but that’s to be expected. Later today we head to the “Hautes Cotes de Beaune” (or upper slopes of Beaune) to continue picking Chardonnay. There are some great wines made from grapes grown there; Parker calls it some of the best value wines in Burgundy. Jean Luc’s is stellar, if you haven’t tried it. And this year I helped make it.

The weather is perfect for harvest. Cool, slightly overcast, and dry. And the forecast is good all week. Harvest ends Friday with a big party. My plane leaves Saturday Morning; I hope I’m on it.

Tonite we will again gather for dinner, taste some wines, and of course, sing. I’m sure there will be a request for Do Wah Ditty. Who knows maybe I’ll lead everyone in a round of “Take me out to the Ball Game.”

Until tomorrow,
John in Pommard

It was a long, fun day today in Pommard; The weather is right for picking as it is overcast, cool, and no rain. This is good news for some folks as August weather was not too kind to those in some villages as they were hammered by periods of hail. Villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey St. Denis, Pommard, and Volnay experienced some severe hail that damaged a few of the vineyards causing rot in on some of the vines. Interesting though, was the randomness of the hail. Not only did some villages experience littlle or no hail, some vineyards had experienced hail only in small portions. this was the case for example in Clos Vougeot. I spoke with Chantal Tortochot yesterday as we helped her sort grapes. “The lower portion of Clos Vougeot”, & she said, “received heavy portions, while the upper level received no hail at all”. She went on to say that even with the damage they are harvesting some great
grapes.

Quite a conrast however from the 03 vintage. Late cool weather has been a problem for some. The grapes show great acid levels but fully ripe grapes are not found on all clusters. But most producers are very pleased with the harvest. Jean Luc Joillot, in Pommard is very happy with his harvest. “The grapes are well balanced,” he told me, “many vineyards like Les Rugiens qnd Les Charmots, received no hail and the fruit is nice. With the more difficult vineyards, we are just taking more time to sort the grapes and remove the bad stuff; The grapes that survived the damage are going to make some great wine. We shall soon see. As always in Burgundy, challenges are a way of life. You just do everything you can to allow the wine to make itself. But we’re certainly having fun here trying to stay out of the way. My back hurts, but the wine is soothing that each night.

Tommorow we are off the sorting tables and in the vineyards; Photos and reports to follow.
From Pommard
John (Goldenslope)

Hopefully this will be fun and at the same time informative. Roving reporters from domaines and harvest teams giving you the realtime news.
Cheers, Bill

So it’s 7:15pm on the 24th September, looking west past the cross on the corner of Romanée Saint-Vivant the sun is already gone. You need something against the chill – it’s about 12°C with a sneaky breeze.

Despite all the vineyards around being harvested many days ago, there are so many grapes in the DRC vineyards that are still hanging – but they are for the birds!

The grapes appear more homogenous than 12 days ago when still there were many green bunches. I’m sure there could be a decent cuvée made from this lot, but these days your not allowed to pick your own – though the grapes from Romanée-Conti did tast rather nice!

Speaking with Etienne de Montille yesterday (who spoke with Aubert de Villaine on Saturday) DRC left something like 20% of the fruit on the vine after taking only that which was perfectly ripe. Doing a quick calculation based on the size of La Tâche, a rough €500 estimate per bottle and an even rougher 35hl/ha average yield, that’s close to 1 million Euro left on the vines – now that’s what you call commitment to quality! Also gives a hint to why it costs what it does.

Plenty of domaines harvested in August but some left it until September.

By the 12th 99% of the producers have finished, but for the Grand Cru’s of Vosne-Romanée, most still have lots of fruit on the vine, plenty also on the floor – as above in Romanée-Conti.

The yields were pitiful with 2-3 small bunches per vine – and yet still whole bunches were sacrificed in the ‘nameplate’ vineyards.

Looking across La Tâche 25.07.2003

Already two months of close to 40°C and another month of the same still to endure – praying for a little rain?

Still it’s a little cooler as we start September, but most vineyards are already cleared.

It seems that some vineyards have problems; the increasing sugars and decreasing acidity are usually a sign to begin harvesting – but the phenolics were still unripe. Many still harvested as they believed that no acidity would be left.

It will be – for sure – a fascinating vintage and certainly one to remember, though, despite the skills to be found in many domaines (where doubtless some superb wines will appear) I expect this to be a very heterogenous millesime . . . . .