The 2020 harvest has just ended

IN CHABLIS this year :

The 2020 harvest has just ended.

It is the earliest we have ever known.

For the first time, it had begun before the end of the month of august.

After a year without frost and hail, we were waiting for an important harvest in term of quantity.

We have had rain in spring and July but unfortunately, the warm temperature of the month of august has dried a big part of the grapes.

A lot of them, had been very concentrate as well, due to the temperature.

So, We have lost a big part of the harvest but the quality will be exceptional with a lot of freshness and acidity, with a very chablisian style.

Jean Paul Durup

Wine Maker


IN BORDEAUX PESSAC LEOGNAN:

It’s all moving too fast!

Without a doubt, this 2020 vintage will remain etched in our memories. It’s an early-ripening one and I can already anticipate the quality.

Never in my career have I harvested this early. We began on the 19th  August with the Sauvignon Blancs We needed 9 days to harvest our 80,000 white vines in optimal conditions, carefully and precisely choosing the right moment to pick each plot.

At the start of August, we realised during our first ripeness tests that acidity levels were dropping off quickly. This parameter is extremely important for the whites, but also for the reds. The freshness and tension of our wines is what defines the finest bottles of Old World wines, Bordeaux, and FIEUZAL.

As is the case each year, grapes are harvested by hand and transferred to the pneumatic press using small baskets to preserve the bunches and avoid any oxidation. The pressing is a key process for the quality of our future wines.

We began harvesting the reds on the 8th September, about 10 days earlier than in previous years. We started with the Merlot plots,. They are superb, and we managed to preserve their freshness…. Freshness, freshness and more freshness.

Harvesting took place in perfect weather conditions with cool nights from the 11th September that will have helped to round off the tannins.

We will start again with the Cabernets on the 23rd September and hope to finish by the 1st October. I’m telling you… It’s a historic vintage.

Stephen Carrier, Winemaker