A large part of France has an air pollution problem at the moment; whilst the cold weather is greatly appreciated in the vines, the first real winter for 4 years, the stable high pressure over France means that the air pollution simply doesn’t dissipate.

There is a new ‘prefectural decree‘ which now prohibits vineyard workers, among others, from burning “green waste in the open air” – so no more smoking wheelbarrows in the vines – a source of much comfort for people working in the sub-zero temperatures.

Apparently, this decree is valid as long as the concentration of particles in the air remains above a certain level. The growers have never had such a mandate before! You are also not allowed to throw another log on your fire in the house too as this is not classed as an ‘indispensable source of heating!‘

For the same reason, there is a mandatory 20km per hour speed reduction on the French Autoroute – I drove 355km back to my home in Switzerland yesterday evening – the trucks and cars were ignoring this, but only by a margin of 99.9%…

Both arrived together in the inbox today – interestingly Allen Meadows is 94 points on the 2014, and ‘only’ 92-95 on the 2015. You could end up paying more for the one with the lowest points 🙂

2014 Clos des Lambrays
75cl 159.00 (Swiss francs)
150cl 323.00

2015 Clos des Lambrays
75cl 199.00
150cl 403.00
300cl 856.00

8% Purchase tax to be added, but these are delivered prices…