Last night in the Côte d’Or there was nothing to report – unlike the devastation in my Swiss domicile – not just vines but the fruit industry too. The corridor to Burgundy – the Jura – is likewise terribly affected.

Here in the Côte d’Or, the last days saw lit candles in the vines in Volnay and St.Romain – I hear that there was damage in both Savigny-lès-Beaune and St.Aubin, but for the moment I’ve no more info. There has been a relatively strong north wind and the vineyards were very dry so damage has been relatively minor. The Hautes Côtes have seen at least -4°C and some vignerons re-purposed the ‘chariots’ used for burning the pruned material, making fires from pulled out old vines – they say that they definitely save some buds.

I caught up with Frédérick Drouhin this morning in Beaune’s market and asked him how it was for him in Chablis, where it was colder than here. The grand crus were of-course well-protected, but losses in premier crus were ‘not too bad’ – say 10-15%, and the villages wines had lost more like 30% – “But it’s not yet over” he counsels…

Anyway, to brighten the picture, there was the produce of Beaune’s market in the sunshine this morning – the strawberry aroma was fabulous – though it looks like there wont be many from Switzerland this year!