Looks like vendange Sept. 11th

Meunier-grapes on their way - there is still a long way befure maturity.

The priest in Vertus is up with the first hint... regional paper l'Union and the professional press soon agrees... September 11th seems most likely as the first day of this years grapeharvest.

It is almost two weeks before the date you reach if you count the 100 days on top of the period of the flowering. Three weeks of heatwave is what it takes to change anything in nature - all the way from catastrophy to saved by the bell and vice versa.

This year it mainly implies, that the rather late development of the vines because of the cold cold spring, now has been more than caught up with. The grapes have developed nicely and are in generally good health, even there has been attacks by mildew and oïdium.

The technical director of the CIVC, Dominique Moncomble, does not restrain himself from calling the grapes of the year in the Champagne crayeuse (Chalky Champagne) for "georgeous" (l'Union).


Our Meunier-grapes grow in the fringe of the Champagne Crayeuse.

The grapes are expected to carry around 18.000 kilos of grapes per hectare, only 13.000 kilos per hectare is loíkely to be authorised. Which means that there is no usage of the extra 5.000 kilos of grapes, not for champagne anyway.

Anyway it is still too early to look forward to a good grapeharvest. With more than one month to go, disease may still strike, and at the moment the grapes still need water to continue the good development. Which they have had so far, not enormously amounts, but so far what they needed.

The worst climatical accident of the year so far still seems to be the violent thunderstorms that whipped their way through the Vallée de la Marne in early July. 650 hectares of vines were destroyed completely and 2.500 hectares were damaged.

What is left now is mainly to wait... and keep an eye on a satisfactory development.

På dansk

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