News from the Vineyard

By Eléonore Lafarge
Wednesday April 7, 2021

This week Burgundy is lit up!

Our friends in Burgundy and Champagne are witnessing surrealist scenery at this moment.

With the high temperatures in March, the vines grew fast and we can see already the first leaves. Winemakers were convinced that spring was finally there. But Mother Nature wasn’t on their side as the temperature dropped a few days ago. Since last night, April 6, there is snow in Burgundy and Champagne, which is very unusual.

Leaf in Volnay vineyards, April 7, 2021

With temperatures as low as -3˚C (26˚F) at night, the risk of frost is very high. With climate change, this is becoming a recurrent problem, to fight frost almost every year in April. A few years ago, winemakers burnt straw to create a cloud all over the vineyards to protect the buds. On April 29, all the Côte de Beaune woke up at 4am, to go light the straw on fire. This was another surrealist view of Burgundy. In order to protect the environment, this practice is now illegal.

Fire straw in Volnay, April 29, 2017

Another solution is to buy special candles, place them in the vineyards you wish to protect, and light them up before the sunrise. This is what a majority of winemakers did this year in the Côte de Beaune and a few in the Côte de Nuits.

Social media is full of remarkable photos of candle-lit vineyards. The impressive and quite beautiful images belie the sinister vagaries of Mother Nature.

It is still too early to know the extent of the damage but there are sure to be some lost buds, unfortunately.

Candles in Volnay vineyards, April 6, 2021