Volnay 1er Clos Santenots – today…
Whilst the northern Mâconnais and southern Nuits, remain a sorry spots, given 2x hail, most of the rest of the Côte d’Or, Chablis and Beaujolais look resplendent!
Whilst many areas of France – and I would include the Mâconnais and Beaujolais – lack rain so have a little maturity-blockage due to the high temperatures, the Côte d’Or seems to be in great shape. The temperatures have not been lower than elsewhere, but heavy downpours have come consistently every 10-14 days – the last heavy ones have been the 25th July and 9th August. There is no lack of water in the Côte d’Or where the volume of rain is the largest since 2004 – but its still an early (so far) vintage with little else in common with that year.
I toured the Côte de Beaune this morning, and apart from a few bruised or split grapes from the hail, the vines and the grapes look in very good shape – veraison certainly a little behind in Pommard Rugiens (Hautes) where I saw only 50-90% completion. All-in-all, looking good – whites still on for a harvest start well into August, the reds, clearly needing a little more time. Fingers crossed, it’s stormy out there!
First, the whites:
Second, almost all reds!:
