In many places the winegrowers currently measure the content of their grapes, it can vary quite a lot. A neighbour told us one week ago, that the potential of alcohol on the lower vineyards of Verzy compared to the upper is six and eight percent. Which means that you have to plan your harvest rather well to be able to pick all grapes at their best.
The technicians of the CIVC are also out with their baskests to collect and measure the content of the grapes. Numbers from all villages are put into a diagram, that is distributed every three days at the moment with numbers at department level.
Sugar and acidity
In these diagrams we can follow the maturation of the grapes and also the growth of the disease botrytis for each of the three varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier.
The real art is - as always - to decide for the best obtainable balance between sugar and acidity. It is supposed to be around 10 to be at its best, but there cannot be too much rot. A difficult balance, especially if you have several varieties.
The rainy clouds, that all August have hung heavily on the Champagne skies, now at last have moved on. Even without causing too much disease, in our vineyards at least.
Activities of harvest on the rise
The gipsies are arriving. Some have begun to apply for jobs during the vendange.
The vendangeoirs in the villages are being prepared as well. Rooms cleaned, kitchens filled with food and grapeboxes stacked outside the pressoirs. Everything is buzzing.
The CIVC makes the start dates public on September 6th. Each village has its date for each variety. Around this time you can finally finish hiring your team as you only now will know excactly how long the harvest will be in your plots.
In English
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