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May 31st, 2016

5/31/2016

DEVASTING HAIL IN FRANCE MAY 27
A little over a month after frost caused considerable damage to buds in Chablis, Burgundy and the Loire, and two weeks after hail ravaged vines in the north of Chablis around Maligny, on Friday, May 27 a violent hailstorm struck Préhy, Courgis, Chitry, and St Bris.
Hail also did considerable damage over the weekend in Chiroubles, Fleurie, Régnié, and Morgon…as well as in Cognac and Madiran.
Olivier Morin in Chitry had already lost 70% of his 2016 crop to the late April frost; on Friday he lost what was left. The hail fell for 20 minutes and when it stopped, “there was not a single baguette left”. He will not be harvesting in 2016 and the damage to the vines was such that the 2017 harvest is severely compromised. Olivier said he did not know what wood he will have on the vines to prune for 2017. His 88 year old grandfather told him he had never seen a hailstorm of such intensity. After the storm, there were almost 10 inches of hail on the ground.

Thomas Pico of Somaine Pattes Loup, who two weeks ago was relieved that he had escaped the hail, was devasted when I spoke with him yesterday. “Catastrophique” was the word he used to describe the situation. “The next two years will be a question of survival. There will certainly be domains that go out of business.” He has already laid off many of his vineyard workers.

I was in Chablis on Saturday morning to visit a new Chablis domain with which I have started to work. Of their 14.4 hectares of vines, only 1.20 hectares escaped the hail.

In Saint-Bris, Marie Goisot Bellot reported that of their 30 hectares, there was less than one hectare in which there were still some leaves on the vines. To make matters even worse, as it has been raining steadily since Saturday, they have been unable to get into the vineyards to treat the damaged vines.

The constant rain is increasing the risk of mildew and the risk of poor flowering in June.

In the Beaujolais, between 1,000 and 1,500 hectares were hit by hail over the weekend. Paul-Henri Thillardon said “there is nothing left in my vineyards of Chiroubles. “ Vineyards in Fleurie, Régnié and parts of Morgon were also badly damaged.

"I was desolate and afraid, and full of woe and terror".

"We were...living in a world of doom and gloom...where storms raged and wolves scratched at the door."

St Bris streets after the hail storm May 27 and vine ripped up by hail
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May 17th, 2016

5/17/2016

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FROST follow up

When you have damaged buds or none, or few, left upon the vines, the vineyard work is changed. A Burgundy grower told me that since the frost two weeks ago none of their vineyard employees have been in the vineyards.
There is nothing to do, but wait to see if by any chance new buds will form. Some domains have already started to lay off workers. In the summer, there will be lots of work re pruning the vines for the 2017 harvest because after the frost damage, with the buds destroyed, the vines will have a tendency to grow in all directions.
Loire up date
Of the 144 hectares which compose the ACs of Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir, half were impacted by the frost. But not only is the 2016 crop affected, but 2017 as well since Pineau d’Aunis and Chenin often produce bunches from the same place as the previous year.
In Côteaux du Vendommais the losses are estimated at 50-90%

Chablis: after the frost, hail.
The northern part of Chablis was hit by torrential rain and hail on Friday May 13. 400-500 hectares, representing 10% of the surface of Chablis, suffered hail damage. From the damaged vines, the branches will grow in an irregular fashion and without grapes. The pruning in 2017 and the harvest of 2017 will be impacted, “c'est la double peine".

Burgundy :
According to a report of the CIVB, in 23% of vineyards in Burgundy (6.800 hectares), the losses due to the frost reach 71 to 100%.

...Bare ruin'd choirs

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weather report

5/10/2016

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“C’est la catastrophe !». APRIL FROST IN FRANCE
After an unusually mild winter, which included some glorious spring weather in February and March, the weather was cool and wet for much of April. The warm weather led to early bud break and growers had their fingers crossed that the temperatures would not drop below freezing.
The critical period of the season occurs during the “lune rousse” which begins the first day of the new moon after Easter. This year the “lune rousse” started on April 7 and finished May 6. It is generally considered that once past this period, there is little danger of frost.
The name comes not from the color of the moon, but from the fact that young buds which are frost damaged often have a reddish tint to them.
The night of April 26-27 the worst fears of the vignerons were realized in much of the Loire, in Chablis, the Côte d’Or, to a lesser extent the Côte Chalonnnaise, and in the Aube.
In some years, a second bud develops which, while less fruitful than the first, may still produce grapes. But this year, after the mild winter, in many places the second bud was already developed when the frost struck.
In some places both the main bud and the "back-up bud" ( contre-bourgeon) had already burst. In instances where both suffer frost damage, it will be difficult to get any harvest at all.

Burgundy: Few vineyards were spared and what was most unusual was that nearly every part of the vineyard – the plain and the hillsides; vineyards treated chemically and those where the soil is worked – was impacted. According to the first estimations, of the 29,250 hectares of vineyards in Burgundy, approximately 6,700 hectares suffered losses from 30-70% and 6,800 hectares had losses ranging from 70-100%.
In the Cote d’Or, out of 9,000 hectares, 7,000 suffered frost damage.
Jean-Michel Aubinel, the president of the Confederation of appellations and vignerons of Burgundy, (CAVB), noted « This year there was frost damage in zones where there had never been frost before."
In Chablis, the temperatures were below 0°C for three nights, but on April 26 dropped to -3.5°. Chablis is used to frost and many of the grand cru and premier cru parcels are protected from frost with firepots or spraying water to encase the buds in a protective igloo. But, this year, even in “protected” vineyards, there was frost damage.
In the Côte d’Or, the damage was more important in the Côte de Beaune, as Chardonnay buds earlier than Pinot. Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Chassagne, Monthélie, and Auxey-Duresses, seemed to have been hit the hardest. In Meursault approximately 80% of the vineyards suffered some frost damage with losses from 10 to 90% of the future harvest depending on the parcel.
In the Chalonnnaise, Bouzeron and Rully suffered the most damage. The Maconnais was largely spared by the frost, but had suffered some hail damage a few weeks earlier.

Loire: “C’est la catastrophe !». The frost was as severe and as damaging as in 1994 or 1991.

The president of the AOC Chinon, Jean-Martin Dutour, reported that a good part of the appellation, where temperatures dropped to -7°, suffered losses of up to 50%
Pierre Alliet thinks that of his 7 hectares most affected, the loss is between 60 and 90%.
In Bourgeuil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgeuil, were the temperature dropped to -6°, 60-80% of the buds were lost.
In Saumur, Antoine Foucault estimates he lost at least 40% of the harvest.
In Touraine Azay-le-Rideau et Touraine Noble Joué, losses are estimated at 85%.
In Cheverny, Philippe Tessier estimates his losses at 70-80%.

While Vouvray was largely spared, on the other side of the river in Montlouis, things are grim. One estimate puts the loss for the entire appellation at 70%, but in the commune of St Martin Le Beau the figure is closer to 95%. Franck Breton thinks he has lost 80-90% of the 2016 crop.

Pouilly Fumé and Menetou Salon were also hit hard. Anne Pellé said the entire appellation suffered heavy losses and predicts that they will be lucky to harvest 10hl/ha this year (vs 50hl/ha or more in a normal year).

Sancerre escaped with losses of only 20-30%

In the west, there were losses in Anjou and Muscadet, in some places as much as 50%.

Champagne: Approximately 7,500 hectares suffered losses. There was some damage in the north, but compared with other regions, the growers were happy to get off relatively lightly. When I asked Pascal Agrapart if his vineyards had been affected, he replied “No…well, just one hectare”.

In the Aube, it is a different story. Between 75-80% of the vineyards suffered some damage. Of note, as in Burgundy, is the fact that areas which usually never suffer frost were damaged this year. Parcels which had not suffered frost damage in over 40 years were struck.
Jérôme Coessens estimates he lost between 25 and 50% of the crop. Cédric Bouchard thinks he lost under 30% in the Aube, but in the Chatillonais where he is developing his new project, he lost between 80-90% of the crop and will not bother harvesting at all in 2016.

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May 31st, 2016

May 17th, 2016

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