Another 2003?

Welcome to EDITION 737 of GRAPEVINE

Since April, it has been very hot in Bordeaux in 2019.

Last Friday 5 July 2019 in the Var, the temperature hit 41 degrees Celsius!

I stayed inside the house and relaxed, not doing anything.

It was an act of self preservation. Too risky to exert any energy.

The vine – another living thing – possesses the same defensive mechanism when the weather gets too searing.

Instead of continuing the cycle to ripen the grapes, the plant shuts down.

So, while the sugar level may increase in the fruit because of the heat, the phenolic maturity of the grapes is stunted.

If the extreme heat continues for too long, the result is wines that are heavy, dry, austere, even tart on the palate.

In Bordeaux, 2003 was such an unsatisfactory vintage.

During the tasting of the futures or en primeurs in the spring of 2004, Robert Parker thought 2003 a very good vintage.

It isn’t.

Unless you like wonky wines.

Wishing you A Very Good Weekend.

 

 

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