Our second day…
Just red today, and if ever boredom can rear its head at the triage table, well that’s today – mainly because it was a little over 1 hectare of Savigny-lès-Beaune red – villages – and it took the whole day to pick and triage.
I have to say – great grapes though!
For the appellation, seriously great grapes. What is particular about the reds (so far) is that maladies and off flavours and smells seem completely absent,* just like the relative lack of fauna in the grapes too. One thing is missing though, to an extent, and that’s acidity. Of-course there is acidity in the grapes but it’s largely tartaric, our traveling consulting oenologue regaling us with tales of cuvées he’s tested this year with practically zero malic acid – I wonder how those malolactic fermentations will run then 😉
*NB: So far I’ve triaged no grapes with hail damage.
We will have to wait a little for more meaningful analytics, I’ll be very interested to see some info on the total phenolics – colour is already showing in our Corton-Renards, though perhaps slower than in 2017 – but – my fingers are taking on colour almost as fast as they did in 2017, so let’s see.
A number of domaines didn’t harvest today due to the forecast for storms, maybe even hail – the hail canons were lit today, just in case! In the end, Beaune saw just a few spots of rain around 10h30 and a heavier downpour at 16h00 – no hail reported!
A luncheon wine:
1997 Nicolas Potel, Volnay
Still a quite young colour. A round nose that just gets better and better in the glass, becoming more floral – excellent. Like it always has been, this wine remains concentrated and something of a mid-palate bruiser, there’s structure but depth of flavour too. With aeration it rounds a little, but it’s still something of a brute. Whilst it has a certain charm it definitely lacks elegance – and I like a little elegance in my Volnay. I think I’ve been saying for almost 20 years now, that this wine remains something of a baby – no change here – perhaps it’s time to stop apologising for it and accept that I don’t like it all that much…
Rebuy – No
There is one response to “2018 harvest – 29 august”
Can empathise well with that potential boredom thing Bill (I ha of Savigny). Try 5 ha of Bourgogne Roncevie, as doubtless waiting for me next week or week after 😉 ?
Of-course you will have the never-ending joy of the local countryside to enjoy – near the railway line! Me, I just get an endlessly moving table…. 🙂