News from the vineyard - Spring Frosts in Burgundy

April 6, 2022

By Victoire Chabert

Interview with Lucie Germain from Domaine Henri Germain & Fils, Meursault

Domaine Henri Germain et Fils began life in 1973 when Henri Germain – from the same family as Domaine Château de Chorey-les Beaune – decided to set up on his own estate. Henri’s son Jean-François Germain was joined in 2018 by his daughter Lucie who is now helping to run this small (8ha) domaine. Jean-François is married to Sophie, François Jobard's daughter and Antoine Jobard’s sister.  In the vineyards they follow as natural a system of viticulture as possible (organic). 75% of the domaine's production is white wine, and they are among the very best examples of White Burgundy. I conducted this interview with Lucie a few days after the frost of the night of April 3 to 4 which I wanted to learn more about.

1) Can you explain the effect of frost on the vineyard?

There are several types of frosts which occur in different seasons, but we will talk about the spring frost, which we have just experienced. We’re at a moment right now where the weather is getting warmer and the vine starts to grow. It is this rise in temperature that wakes up the sap in the roots, start to flow through the vine, and make them "cry" as we say. [when you see sap dripping from previously pruned parts of the vine]. And following that, the sap will make the buds come out. In these buds, there is water and it is the cells present in the buds that risk freezing when the temperature drops too much. 

The vine can freeze depending on the temperature but it also depends on the vegetative stage of the bud. In fact, the more the vine grows, the less it resists temperatures. For example, a bud that has just emerged with its protective layer can withstand temperatures down to -3 or -4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees F) . But if temperatures drop too low, then it is possible for the buds to freeze and significantly reduce the crop.  

At the moment, and fortunately, the vineyard is not very advanced. But note that it depends on the sector. Some of our vines are more advanced than others.

2) What are the techniques used  to avoid frost?

The first thing is to have a good agricultural sense. The thing to do is to know the so-called prophylactic methods. To make it simple, we will try to prune the vine as late as possible so that the vine will bud as late as possible -  because the more we wait, the more chance of good weather. And if the vine is in “cotton” [where the buds still have their protective covering that looks like cotton balls], it does not risk anything. 

At the domaine, we have 3 people for every 8 hectares. It is therefore difficult to prune everything in 15 days in February (even if it would be ideal). Pruning is one of the tasks that takes us the most time throughout the year in the vineyard. We try not to prune before mid-December. 

Then, you also have to control the grass. If there is too much grass between the rows, it will be in contact with the buds and there will be much more chance that the buds will freeze because there will be too much humidity. 

Finally, we can play with the pruning dates according to the vines’ location by pruning the most precocious vines last. For example, Meursault 1er Cru Poruzot, which is located on the hillside of Meursault, is often our earliest-developing vineyard and is therefore the one that is harvested first. It is important to have a good sense in the choice of pruning schedules according to the different parcels of the domaine. Basically, we want to prune the latest vines as early as possible and the earliest vines as late as possible.

In terms of direct protection measures, we can mention some of them: ridging, water spraying.. but we have bet on moving air with windmills as well as heating with candles and, for the first time, tarpaulins. 

We put candles in the early vines like Perrières and Meursault Village, as well as a wind turbine to aerate Meursault Charmes that we bought with several other wine growers. We also tried for the first time to put a winter cover on to test. But as the vines did not really freeze, we cannot make a comparison to know if it worked or not. 

Disadvantages: the candles are polluting and expensive (note minimum of 10 euros per candle) and we in Meursault have to cover between 300 and 600 hectares minimum; therefore it is a real investment. It would be necessary to find other solutions which pollute less but for the moment we don’t really have them. 

3) Is climate change the cause? 

Spring frosts are partly the consequence of climate change and extreme weather shifts: when it seems like winter is over and the weather gets nice (up to 20 degrees=68F), the vine will grow rapidly. This is also the case for fruit trees and flowers. The high temperatures make nature wake up and start to grow, but then in that vulnerable state, suddenly the temperature drops and we have these dangerous moments.

4) Finally, last week's freeze, more fear than harm? 

Yes, fortunately more fear than harm. We are quite early in the season and the vines are not very budded (again, it depends on the sector). The pinot noir grape variety for example is quite late as well as the rest of the reds which are generally very late. But for the vines on the hillsides which develop a little faster, it can be more constraining. But we are still early in the season and the vines have not grown as much and are therefore less at risk.

Even if it froze on Sunday morning and especially on Monday morning, we were lucky that the days before, the weather was rather nice and windy, so it allowed us to have rather dry conditions and not to freeze the buds. In previous years, freezing was often due to rain the day before or to wet soil, and the humidity went up on the vines and crystallized the buds, thus freezing them. 

In Meursault in any case, more fear than harm, but it is only the beginning of the spring season and the vines are just starting to grow - we are crossing our fingers that we don't have another frost episode. 

Last year, the frost was very present. The domaine lost more than 60% of our harvest, which is quite rare. The vineyard was more at risk because it was at a more advanced vegetative stage and it had snowed the days before to the extent of 2 or 3 cm (1.18 in) of snow. The magnification of the sun’s rays on the frosted vegetation burned the cells of the vine leaves of the young shoots which is what destroyed all the vines, especially those on the hillside and particularly the chardonnay. But for this year, we cross our fingers for beautiful days to come!

News from the Vineyard - Special Harvest Edition

August 25, 2020
by Justine Puaud & Max Goldberg Liu

NEWS FROM BURGUNDY

Côte de Beaune

This year is historically early for many growers in Burgundy.

Guillaume d’Angerville finished on August 25th which was the start date of his previous earliest harvest - 2003. This is a very different vintage than 2003, however - so far the grapes coming in have been very well balanced with good concentration due to the late summer drought, and are not at all overripe or dramatically low in acidity. Sanitary conditions are excellent as well - there is almost no need for a sorting table.

Thus far, weather conditions have been perfect - beautiful sunny days and cool nights, and growers are crossing their fingers that it continues.

Frédéric and Clothilde Lafarge finished the first day of harvest with a big smile, declaring the quality of the grapes to be amazing and forecasting 2020 as a great vintage. So far, the Lafarges are equally happy with the quality of both the whites and the reds. They should finish the harvest Friday evening and will be celebrating their Paulée with the vendangeurs.

Be sure to check out the video below with Fred Lafarge that our friends Richard and Carla Rza Betts captured the other day. Richard and Carla are in Burgundy this week capturing exclusive content for the Pressoir.wine Club, so be sure to look out for more footage from the harvest.

Beautiful cool harvest weather (Nicolas Rossignol, August 24, 2020)

Rapid fermentation of Clos du Château des Ducs (Clothilde Lafarge, Domaine Lafarge)

Early morning at Domaine des Comtes Lafon in Meursault Charmes (August 23, 2020)

Côte de Nuits

As is usually the case, the Côte de Nuits was generally a little behind the Côte de Beaune in starting the harvest, and the quality is looking to be equally as high.

Véronique Drouhin remarked that her Griotte-Chambertin was quite small in quantity but that the small bunches look magnificent.

Bonnes Mares (Domaine Hudelot-Baillet, August 25, 2020)

La Romanée being picked on August 26, 2020 (Louis-Michel Liger-Belair)

Griotte-Chambertin (Véronique Drouhin, August 22, 2020)

NEWS FROM CHAMPAGNE

2020 is also a historic vintage in Champagne: the earliest harvest on record.

This is the third warm year in a row producing beautifully ripe grapes. Many Champenois are comparing the trio of 2018, 2019, 2020 to the heralded trilogy of 1988, 1989, 1990. There are many similarities in growing conditions, precocity of the harvest, good ripeness, and clean fruit.

Many of the winemakers are finishing picking and pressing Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. Some of the Chardonnay is in but growers in the Côte des Blancs are waiting a bit longer to pick.

Rodolphe Péters of Pierre Péters is proud of how his Chardonnay vines have handled the changing climate: “This brings me to a thought about VERSATILITY, having a look back to the recent history of Champagne. What was the grape variety which used to be harvested the first when the climate was very challenging and cool and harvest was taken place in late September or October? And what is now the latest grape variety to be picked, while we face impacts of the global warming and must manage every year earlier and earlier harvests ? Only one answer in both cases: Chardonnay.”

Our friend Marie-Pascale Do-Dinh is in Champagne this week - we look forward to sharing the footage and photos of her visits with you in the coming weeks.

Pinot Noir from 1er Cru Les Noues in Ecueil at Champagne Frédéric Savart (August 26, 2020)

AR Lenoble is finishing pressing Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Harvest started simultaneously in Krug’s Clos d’Ambonnay and Clos du Mesnil. (Olivier Krug, August 26, 2020)

Chardonnay from the top part of Les Hautes Chèvres (Vincent Laval, August 25, 2020)

News from the vineyard 7/15/20

The height of summer means the canopy management work is finished and all that remains for the hard working crew at Domaine Chapel, in their old vine vineyard Charbonnières in Fleurie, is to pick the wild strawberries and await the ripening that late July and August brings.

Domaine Chapel is a winery started in 2016 by David Chapel (son of famed three-star Michelin Chef Alain Chapel) and his wife, Michele Smith (formerly a NYC sommelier.) Lucie and Eva, foraging below, are their only full time employees (in practice they are actually volunteers and work for room and board!) The old vines of the Charbonnières vineyard are among their top holdings.

News from the vineyard

June 23, 2020

By Justine Puaud

Right now we are heading into what we call the bunch closure or berry touch (fermeture des grappes in French) meaning the berries are getting bigger and start to touch each other within the bunches. The fruit at this time is about half the size they will be at harvest and it is starting to look like an actual cluster of grapes. While there is no sugar production as of yet, the berries are accumulating organic acids. The bunch closure usually happens between the end of June and the beginning of July. This confirms we are definitely ahead of the average growing season.

Clothilde Lafarge shared with us a snapshot of the bunch closure in the Clos des Chênes.