Veraison

The few showers in recent days have been favorable to the vine and  veraison*.

We will try to follow the same clusters of each grape variety week by week to assess developments.

Pinot Noir - Janvry

 

Pinot Meunier - Janvry

* Véraison: color change of the berry. The black grape berries go from green to red and white grape berries turn from green to yellow. This color change is accompanied by a sugar arrival in bays. Ripening lasts 10 to 15 days, and precedes the grape maturation phase.

In recent days, some small berries were visible but now need to look for more! Veraison has actually begun! See you in about 45 days for the first shots shears!

Yield for 2015 Harvest

The CIVC (Interprofessional Committee of Champagne Wines), the SGV (General Winegrowers' Union) and UMC (Union of Champagne Houses) met Monday, July 20 to decide the yield of the harvest 2015.

Yield: 10 000kg/ha

Releasing in February 2016: 500kg/ha

Therefore a marketable volume of 10 500 kg/ha

For now the vine does not suffer from drought. She is doing well. With this particularly favorable weather, the first shots shears could be given around 10 September. But the weather of August remains critical.

July 14 - Fireworks of Reims and Unesco

This year the fireworks of July 14 had a double meaning. In addition to celebrating National Day, Reims celebrated also the registration of "Hillsides, Houses and Cellars of Champagne" on the list of UNESCO World Heritage.

The fireworks so the theme "Champagne"

Here are some pictures (which unfortunately does not reflect the performance)

And some videos including the final

The following video was filmed in portrait

End of trellissing and cluster's closing

Fin du palissage et Fermeture de la Grappe

Trellising ended Saturday, July 11, after three long weeks in oppressive heat.

Maintenance work still continues with the trimming.

We are at the stage of closure of the cluster. The next step is veraison.

Pinot Meunier

Trellising and forecast

Trellissing is started for over a week in oppressive heat.

So we arranged work schedules to enjoy the "freshness" of the morning.

Flowering is now complete. Full flower was around the 15-17 June which suggests the harvest 90 days later so around September 15. To be confirmed according to the weather.

The flowering leaves room for berry set and seed formation.

Chardonnay

Pinot Meunier

Wildlife in the vineyard

Sometimes, we meet wildlife. They hide but we can see them. 

What is he hiding this vine?

A baby hare

Starving tenants

Tynig up and flowering

 The weather of these recent days and the one to come will not facilitate the work of the vine.

Important winds early this week, expected showers, thunderstorms (which we escaped for the moment) and temperature differences from one day to the next (Friday, June 5: 33°C - Saturday, June 6: 22°C and 28°C today announced and lower temperatures early next week) result in uneven growth. 

Friday June 5 storms which we escaped

Still, the tying up continues. 

Before

After

Flowering is well advanced in the plots of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir...

... And had started in the plots of Pinot Meunier

In the same plot, the flower begins only ...

...When some, the entire cluster is in blossom

Close inflorescences 

End of Disbudding, Tying-up and Weather

Disbudding ended Tuesday, June 2 under the sun and heat. Tying-up is still going on.

Sunrise this morning (the vineyards around the house are not tying up)

The coming days will be warm but the storms are predicted for the weekend. Just hope that we will miss them.

What a beautiful map of France, we would like to see more of this!

Disbudding and first thunderstorm

Disbudding continues. Wednesday, May 20, the first storm of the year broke. Heavy rains with hail according to sectors.

Storm seen from the vineyards in Courcelles-Sapicourt. Some small hail mixed with rain. But on Janvry sector, hail fell and made some minor damage. We can say we have been lucky.

The leaves have holes...

... And some clusters were affected.

Disbudding

The vine grow and enjoyed the last days of sunshine and warmth. Disbudding has started on Monday.

And the grapes are becoming more visible.

End of bonding and growth of the vine

The binding was finished Tuesday, April 14th with a beautiful blue sky.

The vineyard benefits from these beautiful spring weeks. The first leaves are now visible. Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are a little more advanced than the Pinot Meunier. But we have several days late compared to last year (to refresh the memory: http://bit.ly/1cQ1RCn) 

Pinot Meunier at "Chemin de Reims", last plot pruned

Pinot Noir in Janvry

Chardonnay "at Jardin's plot"

We can even see the futures grapes

Pruning and snow

Pruning started smoothly last week.

Small morning frosts, the last few days and some snowflakes today...

Frost

 Some photos after the morning frosts on Sunday 4 and Monday, January 5

Dusk a week ago at "Circuit de Gueux"