I said the weather would change!

Light rain in Meursault on Thursday morning was followed by lunch in Pommard against the backdrop of a leaden sky to west. After an hour of rumbling and occasional flashes of lightening the clouds opened over Chassagne at about 4:00pm – heavy rain – it didn’t last too long though. There was a small amount of hail too, but they were quite small bullets – no problem I think.

There were pockets of flowering around the Côtes this week, but just about everything should be in flower by the weekend – that’s at least three weeks ahead of ‘the average’. Vignerons are already pencilling-in 20-25th August to start their harvest! I’m hoping for a cool few weeks in the summer because I’m going to a wedding in Scotland in the middle of August!

Friday. The last day of (almost) sun in the côtes – it was a little misty, but dry. I can’t ever remember walking through the vines in September in ‘normal’ shoes – the ground was so dry. Lots of work was being done replacing old/dead vines and even a bit of ploughing here and there before the rain that was forecast for the weekend.

The pictures that follow are mainly from around and in the Clos St.Jean (1er) in Chassagne-Montrachet. It’s not every autumn that the chardonnay and pinot vines are so well delineated in the vineyard – and yes, the red ones are the pinot!

The evening was a mini-paulée of sorts. This week saw the conclusion of the harvest for the home team – yes even grapes were harvested! A parcel of Hautes Côtes was picked on Monday – the grapes were nothing special but will make a very good rosé – as some vignerons would say, they were still too good for Cremant! The majority of the harvest team (stageurs) were still at the domaine so a dinner seemed appropriate! Two whites; a 2003 Jomain Puligny Perrières was a surprising smooth and interesting aperitif – far from ideal acidity but in a very nice shape – followed by a lovely 2007 Javilier Meursault Clos du Cromin. The reds were a world tour; The previously tasted (here) Donatsch 2008 ‘Passion’, a Californian (non-pinot) whose name I forget, a South African (Danie de Wet) Nature in Concert Pinot and finally a 1990 Lafarge Beaune 1er Grèves. See – we were quite modest 😉

Musical backdrop to the 2010 vintage: Citizen Cope – thanks Amy!