Burgundy Difficult Year – third hailstorm in two months!

Burgundy’s wine growers are used to the quirks of nature, especially rain, humidity and the disease pressure that accompanies them. However, 2012 has been particularly challenging. On Aug. 1, the third hailstorm in 2 months unleashed its fury on some vineyards in the Côte de Beaune.

The latest in a series of violent storms affected vineyards in Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault and parts of the Hautes Côte de Beaune. In a region where most of the row orientation runs east to west, the south-facing side of the vines were damaged, with as much as 50 percent of grapes lost.

Aggravating the situation is the fact that many growers had already removed leaves to promote air circulation to combat the spread of mildew. This left grape clusters exposed and more susceptible to damage from hail.

This was the latest setback in a year that has been unrelenting. April brought cold, wet conditions that retarded the growth of the vines. The precipitation continued into May, with alternating periods of heat and cold, perfect conditions for mildew.

The fight against mildew has required more treatments than usual, but the wet weather has made it difficult to get machinery into the vineyards. Growers have resorted to spraying from canisters carried on the backs of workers.

Violent storms in June resulted in the first hail striking parts of Beaune, Savigny-lès–Beaune and Chorey-lès-Beaune. The continued cold, wet weather resulted in a long, drawn-out flowering with coulure (poor fruit set) and the constant threat of mildew. The second hailstorm hit Volnay and Pommard on June 30. It has rained on and off since.

Maconnais pushes for Premier Crus

Maconnais pushes for Premier Crus (Courtesy Decanter magazine)

Macon is currently the only region of Burgundy without any Premier Crus, and producers in Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Loché, Pouilly-Vinzelles and Saint Véran have been waging a six-year long campaign to get recognition for their best vineyards.

In 2010 they sent a geological study of the terroir of 400ha and 73 individual climats to the National Institute for Appellations (INAO).

The intention is to show the measurable differences between land that should be classified Premier Cru and that of surrounding plots.

New Jersey wines match French wines!

Maybe all those rankings of wines don’t mean that much, at least if you really want to know which wine tastes better.

That thought occurs after reading a report on the “Judgment of Princeton,” a restaging of the famous 1976 taste test called the “Judgment of Paris.”  It was that tasting that put California wines on the map.

“The Judgment of Princeton” was staged at AAWE’s annual conference. Nine wine judges from France, Belgium and the U.S. tasted French against New Jersey wines.

The French wines selected were from the same producers as in 1976 including names such as Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and Haut Brion, priced up to $650/bottle. New Jersey wines for the competition were submitted to an informal panel of judges, who then selected the wines that would compete. These judges were not eligible to taste wines at the final competition.

The results were surprising, AAWE said. Although, the winner in each category was a French wine (Beaune Clos des Mouches for the whites and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild for the reds), New Jersey wines barely differed in their average rank from those of France. Three of the top four whites were from New Jersey. The best NJ red was ranked 3rd place. Prices for the NJ wines are typically one-third to one-twentieth of their French competitors. 

Vintage Burgundy topped up with table wine?

Executives at a prestigious French wine company have been questioned over allegations that thousands of connoisseurs may have been duped, it was reported.

Prosecutors claimed Laboure-Roi, which was founded in 1832, had been topping up bottles of its vintage Burgundy with table wine.