Julie's blog - 6th September 2006
It’s Harvest Time Again!
Harvesting started here in the Pic St Loup at the beginning of this week, just as the temperatures rose back over 30 degrees, so pity the poor pickers!
It’s been quite a strange summer here weather-wise. The season started early and fiercely hot, and there was very little rain at all in July. Some sporadic showers as usual around the 14th July, but you really had to be in the right village, as the rain passed right over some places.
Then came August… the temperatures dropped dramatically, there were quite a few grey days and some intermittent showers. Not really enough water to make up for July, but the vignerons were all mighty relieved to see the grapes swelling out a little. Of course it wasn’t such great news for the poor holiday-makers who had been sweating in their offices in the July heatwave and were down here on the beach looking up at grey skies in August. Still, in the second half of August the sun came back again, and here we are in early September ready for the harvest.
It’s too early really to say what kind of vintage this will be, everyone has an opinion based on the weather conditions, but until the grapes are in and fermentation has started it’s all just guess work really. It seems like it will be another rather low volume year though, which may make for nicely concentrated wine, but isn’t really great news for the vineyards' bank balances.
The photo shows trays of grape, just in from the vineyard. They are raised up to the top of the concrete vats where they are sorted and destemmed in a kind of giant tumble dryer. They are then poured into the concrete vats from the top and fermentation begins... |
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