On the vines... Spring - Summer 2008
After an exceptionally dry autumn and winter, the rain came in the spring. There will be no drought but vineyard management is tricky. There is strong pressure from parasites and we need to remain vigilant in order to ensure that the vines stay healthy. The organic trials are conclusive for now. The vegetative progress foretells a classic vintage.
We are now no longer using herbicides. Work on the land varies greatly given the complexity of our vineyards. We work the plains by tractor, the lower slopes by caterpillar tractors and on horseback and the upper slopes by winch.
Working again with horses makes sense for steeply sloping plots or very old plots planted irregularly without turning spaces. Horses really know how to walk crabwise in order to compensate for banking and can turn on the spot in locations where no heavy vehicles could be manoeuvred.
 |
On the vines...Winter 2008
|
We experienced an especially dry autumn. What had been a saving grace during the harvest became problematic with regard to water. Indeed, November is usually the wettest month, but this year we saw a mere 10mm of rainfall. The lack of water is a very important issue, and we must hope that the end of winter will see a lot of rainfall. December saw hard and long-lasting frosts, which are very good for the health of the upcoming season.
With regard to working the ground, subsoiling was carried out and earthing up completed. Pruning was started during December with the aim of completing it by the end of March. Work involving the development of new plantations is underway, and dry stone walls are being repaired.
|
On the vines...Autumn-Winter 2007-2008
We experienced a gloomy summer with a great deal of rain and temperatures that were below normal. The work that was carefully done to aerate bunches by crop-thinning and cutting back the leaves ensured that the vines stayed in a very healthy condition. The weather at the beginning of September was ideal. The northern wind dried the soil and concentrated the fruit, while bright sunshine enabled us to complete the maturing process of the grapes. The advance in growth that we saw in the spring was partially lost, but we were still able to harvest the white grapes a week ahead of when we did so in 2006. The reds, however, lost any advance they had made through early growth, but are still very promising. A special mention should be made of our brand new Chateauneuf du Pape, which enjoyed a much milder summer. This property comprises 8 ha, one of which is given over to white grapes and the rest of which are divided between grenache and mourvedre. The harvest began with the white grapes on 4th September and finished on 15th September. These were perfectly mature, with the grenache reaching 14.5° of alcohol and with very high polyphenol levels, particularly in the mourvedre