Its beautiful in the sunshine here in Bordeaux. It almost feels like Spring with temperatures around 15°C in the sunny afternoons. Its not good for the ski season as there is no snow and its the school holidays.
Nor is it good for nature as the plants are feeling the pull of the warmth of spring too early and along with it the premature stimulus to bud and flower. The fruit trees of Marmande (peach, cherry) are already blooming. The Mimosa is in full bloom around the vineyard regions – normally we do see this gay bright yellow bloom at this time of year but on the warmer coast around Arcachon and Cap Ferret – a cheery sight after the cold of winter. In the inland wine regions seeing this flowers bloom so early fills us with tension.
We still have over two months ahead of us when temperatures can plummet to well below zero (°C) right up until the 10th May (the days of the Ice Saints – ‘Saints de Glaces’) particularly in the morning just before sunrise when temperatures are at their lowest. Gardeners in France wait for these last freezing days when the cold polar air descends before summer to plant their tomatoes, courgettes, basil, aubergines, cabbage and beans.
I remember a few years ago (I think it was 2019) on the 6th May when a late frost caused havoc right when we thought we’d escaped for the year. The worst was 2017 when on 27th and 28th April many of Bordeaux suffered from 100% loss of buds with no grapes to be harvested. It used to be every 20 years (pre 2017 it was 1991 the last bad frost. No its every year that most vineyards suffer some damage and so eventual loss of yield – determined so early in the growing season. It seems that global change has brought some warming of the average temperatures (benefits Bordeaux’s annual maritime climate and ripening) but with it a warmer winter with cold snaps. Also warmer, wetter conditions have meant that Mildew fungal disease has also become more prevalent.
Many producers are suffering due to the global crisis. Wine is a luxury – gone are the days where it was a staple here in France (literally shot in the foot by the Evin’s law in 1991 outlawing any positive message about drinking wine) and the young around the world are drinking cocktails and artisanal beers so its not going to get any better.
Which varieties are worst hit? The early ripening ones – the whites particularly Sauvignon Blanc which ripens 1 to 2 weeks earlier than Sémillon. This is not good news for the dry (Graves, Péssac-Léognan) and sweet white Bordeaux (Sauternes, Barsac but also Cerons, Loupiac St Macaire). For the reds the main risk is for the early ripening Merlot grape, 1 week before Cabernet Franc (with Cabernet Sauvignon 10 days behind as the latest to ripen).
What impact does this early start on the vines and other fruit trees? It reduces yield as the buds are scorched and do not have time to rebud and flower. The worst frost in Bordeaux’s history was 1956 and we still speak of it today as minus 15°C temperatures in February following warm conditions caused the sap that had risen into the foot of the vine to freeze shattering the vine, killing it and destroying the main part of the Bordeaux vineyards.
Which areas of Bordeaux are particularly impacted by frost? lower lieing vineyards, the cold air goes down the hill. More the bottom of the slopes in the Right Bank (St Emilion, Satellites due to the colder humid clay, Lalande de Pomerol, lower Fronsac – Pomerol is ok diues to its surface stones) and due to the predominance of the earlier ripening Merlot. The Dordogne has less of an impact here as a warming body of as it is far away from most of the quality wine areas.
The Medoc are lucky due to warm nearby water of the Estuary (also not so far from the sea and has breezes), the warm river stones and the slight hills they suffer less. Worse to be hit here are lower lieing areas with wet clay like Listrac, Moulis and low lieing Margaux.
What can producers do to protect their vines?
There are various energy greedy machines such as hot air blowers, windmills, heaters.
Candles which are costly (need 300 per hectare and they cost 10€ each and they last 6 hours need lighting at the right time to allow enough heat to be produced at the crucial time
Spraying water to form protective ice on the vines
Experimentation at low-lieing Canon la Gaffeliere of heating the wires
OR the old technique of ‘fiancaille’ (see below the photo at Coutet St Emilion in january 2021) choosing the branch but leaving it long with all of its buds. It seems to protect the important buds from getting scorched. This involves pruning twice as after the risk has gone, coming back and cutting the branch short and pinning it down. I see many people are already cutting the aste short and leaving the ‘pliage’ till later so the branches are away from the cold base of the vine near to the soil. Both are being adopted on a wide scale in Bordeaux wine regions now adapting to the changing climate.
“Aux Sarments” – The vinecuttings are precious in Bordeaux! They are collected and made into bundles and dried and used to cook entrecôte steak giving it smokey delcious flavours.
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