Please, No!

The weather forecast is gloomy. Even if we don’t get rain today, it could come later this week.

The possibility of rain on a large crop that’s already seeing rapidly declining acidity is potentially frightening, and could be devastating if it falls in large amounts.

Quick status as of September 12

The Côte de Beaune is largely done, with only a few parcels remaining to be picked. Beaune and Corton are progress, as is much of Côte de Nuits Villages. Nuits-Saint-Georges still has a significant amountt to harvest.

Vosne-Romanée’s big names – Romanée-Conti, Comte Liger-Belair, Leroy – are either finished or almost.

This morning last of La Tâche for DRC … but still missing part of RSV.

Flagey-Echezeaux is quite far along, and Clos de Vougeot is in progress.

Chambolle-Musigny and Morey-Saint-Denis have begun; Comte de Vogûé is almost ready. But there is still some work to do for many others.

Gevrey-Chambertin still has much to do. Domaine Durochee is done, but others are yet to start it seems.

Please, no heavy rain

The abundant crop will soak up the water like cool Champagne on a hot day. The result could be inflated, diluted grapes, potentially open to botrytis and other bad things. Concentration will go down the drain, and the scenarios for unharvested grapes are possibly dire.

That said, if acidities continue to fall then it could still be quite bad, sadly, even with only moderate rain.

We shall see. Let’s hold our breath. This could be a rough ride.

And yes, I would really like to be amongst the producers just completing the harvest as of today!