More news of the 2008 harvest

Harvesting Sauvignon Blanc

Christophe Daviau: Domaine de Bablut, Anjou

Went round the vineyards with Christophe on Thursday. They were harvesting the Sauvignon Blanc for the vin de pays de la Loire. Despite the poor summer the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are looking promising, especially with this current spell of generally fine weather. “It will be another 10-14 days before we can start harvesting them,” said Christophe. “At the moment they have about 10˚ potential alcohol and the acidity levels are high.” Next Monday they will have the Grolleau Noir, a local variety, to make Topette, Christophe’s easy drinking, screwcapped red, which is sold in the French market.

Catherine Roussel and Didier Barouillet, Clos Roche Blanche, Touraine
Picking started on Monday 22nd. When I saw them yesterday they had finished the Sauvignon Blanc – unfortunately a tiny harvest this year. Friday morning they started on the Gamay. “The Gamay is really good – very healthy and almost no rot,” said Catherine. When Didier sorted through the grapes he only found five bunches that were rotten.” On Monday morning they will be again be picking Gamay – I hope to get some shots of them harvesting.

Frédéric Mabileau, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Saumur Blanc
Fréderic and Thomas are both very optimistic. “For the Chenin at Le Puy Notre Dame we’ll do the first picking on 6th and 7th October and then the second through the vines 10-14 days later. We’ll start picking the Cabernet Franc on Wednesday 8th October."

Jean-Marie Bourgeois, Henri Bourgeois, Sancerre
“The weather is great at the moment. We will be starting in earnest on Wednesday/Thursday of next week.”

Look out for further updates soon.