Meursault 1er Clos des Perrières – today.
Well, having been away for 10 days, I though that my first job today should be to tour the vines of the Côte de Beaune – more particularly the place where flowering usually starts in the chardonnay. Two years ago I found the very first flowers in this nicely wind-shaded, south-facing spot in Meursault Perrières – on the 21st May. Today, a little over two weeks later-on in the year and the flowers are still waiting to open. It’s forecast to be warmer this week – and we do indeed have some nice sun today – maybe that will be a catalyst, but the weather forecast is far from settled…
The palissage, or training of the vines has been partly done – those shoots not affected by the frost are sufficiently large to train between the wires, but the new/second-growth is not quite developed enough to reach the wires yet – the wires protect the vine growth from the wind which can easily rip-off the shoots. Given the lateness of the growth, we need a beautiful summer to start very soon, or there will be zero chance of second-growth bunches reaching ripeness – even the first growth may not be ready before the end of September…
One vigneron I spoke to today related that the majority of his vines have responded quite well to the challenge of the frost, he won’t have much fruit this year but he’s pretty sure that he will have something to prune so that he has fruit next year – which was his biggest concern – though one of his vineyards in Savigny ‘still looks like winter…’
I will, of-course, keep you posted…
There is one response to “burgundy vineyard update: no flowers yet…”
I’m here right now visiting Côte d’Or for the first time, and I really appreciate your insights on the viticulture I’m getting a chance to see first hand, if only briefly. Thanks!