The 2024 harvest is peeping around the corner, and people are starting to count down the days and hours, ready to spring into action when the grapes are ready, or “à point.”
Two weeks back, June 9th 2024, the flowering began in Volnay at Thomas Bouley. The following weeks, Côte de Nuits follow with full flowering. Thomas’ friend, Olivier Lamy, reports that the flowering has already started in his vineyards.
In general, wine growers are now on the pessimistic or downright negative side as the rain and humid weather are starting to cause serious problems. The rain on June 20 and 21st really pushed the alarm button … as the mildew preasure is going from very severe to full red …
Mildew now looks to cauce severe losses in many plots. So far this year, it has not been a full disaster … despite the humid weather, but very frequent spraying has been necessary to keep the vineyards reasonably healthy.
I do, however, hear more and more reports of very severe damage from the mildew … and this will be a big fight.
I have heard reports of more than 40% loss due to mildew even before the heavy rain on June 20th… so this is getting very serious indeed.
The best possible outcome
In reality, much of the basic harvest planning is done before véraison and flowering, or floraison in French. The harvest date is decided based on experience and the likely outcome. In the end, financial limits and practical considerations will decide the details: How many are on the team? How long can you have the team on hold before it becomes critical?
The rule of thumb here is that harvest starts 100 days after mid-flowering – in theory, at least. With global warming, however, some feel that 90 days is a more appropriate base for calculations…
Floraison began this year in mid-June. Calculating 100 days forward from then gets us to an approximate harvest date – September 20, 2024 in Côte de Nuits.
For many, a better harvest gauge is 40 days from mid-véraison (colour change in the grapes). But then again, what is mid-véraison?
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Importance of finding phenolic ripeness
The key to winemaking success is finding optimal phenolic ripeness, without over-doing sugar ripeness or losing balancing acidity – a daunting task.
Sometimes, this is difficult or even impossible; other times, optimising compromises are made. This is when the expression “à point” starts to make sense.
And sometimes – bull’s eye! – a vin d’émotion is created by a grower who understands that timing is everything, and that making great pinot is a difficult task.
Size and quality
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Expounding on the quality at this point is pure guesswork. Let’s face it, currently, 2024 doesn’t look like a great vintage … as the season thus far has been too cold, humid and gloomy.
Positive surprises have however been seen in many vintages, and let’s not forget, the last really poor vintage was back in 1994!
The rain has so far been adequate (or even abundant), so no blockage of phenolic ripening should occur due to lack of water. If the weather becomes optimal, then this could speed up the ripening process in July and August significantly.
Good luck to all!
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