In some places, the harvest started earlier than ever this year. Overall, the quality of the grapes has been exceptional. In Champagne, they started picking already on August 17. The quality of the grapes was top notch with a potential alcohol content of between 10 and 10.5%, which is good in Champagne, and also plenty of grapes.
Veronique Dausse, director of the Château Phelan Segur in Saint Estèphe in Bordeaux, says that they started harvesting merlot on September 16 and will have finished with cabernet sauvignon by the end of September. The grapes have been fine and healthy, the quantity relatively small in Bordeaux though.
Languedoc has had a good harvest all over the region with good autumn weather, fine grapes, good quantity and promising quality.
From Sancerre, Domaine Henri Bourgeois announces that the first grapes were picked on August 31. Good quality overall, not least the pinot noir wines look very promising with a good balance between sugar, acidity and tannins.
Bernard Duseigneur at Domaine Duseigneur in Châteauneuf-du-Pape tells us that, contrary to the northern Rhône, he suffered neither from drought nor from extreme heat. “We’ve had just enough of both, so the juices are well balanced in alcohol and acidity with medium-bodied tannins. So far the vintage looks promising”, says Bernard, but he adds that he has to wait until the end of the fermentation to have a more precise idea.
