This week, in wine-growing France, from Bordeaux to Burgundy and beyond, grape pickers are out in force, swarming vineyards like ants to bring in the earliest harvest in 500 years. Here in Meursault, where I now live, the vendanges began on Monday, the 17th of August. Last year, they began at the end of August.
To say there has been much anguish in France over this summer’s heat and how it’s affecting vacationers and wine harvests is not an exaggeration. The French treasure their vacations (les Juillettistes in July, the aoûtiens in August) as much as they do their wine. Given the fires in Bordeaux and Dijon and the excessive drought, vignerons and vacanciers have had many a sleepless night.
But all is well here in Meursault, a tiny village of 80 winemakers in a population of 1400. Although quantity will be down as much as 50 percent in some cases, the quality of the grapes may produce a superior vintage. In Bordeaux, the situation is different, as the ashes from the fires that settled on the vineyards has affected both quantity and quality.
One vineyard owner in Burgundy was quoted by a local news site as saying they were “very surprised” at the quality of the grapes, which she had expected to be too dry due to the drought, but were in fact “beautiful bunches.” She displayed a glass of newly-pressed nectar – a dark, creamy yellow, nearly orange – to illustrate the exceptional alcohol content of over 15 percent. Normally, a Chardonnay has between 13 to 13.5 percent alcohol content.
This morning on my early morning walk, to escape the heat, the vineyards were crawling with saisonniers (workers who come to France from Italy, Portugal, Eastern Europe, the U.K. and America, to pick grapes for a minimum wage of 12 euros per hour, room, board, and to experience a French harvest). The harvest used to last two weeks. This year because of the unusual conditions – smaller grape clusters, and fewer leaves, making the clusters easier to pick – the harvest could be over in just one week, at least for the smaller domaines.
A Thousand Years of Growing Grapes
Little has changed since the inhabitants of Meursault’s wine appellation began growing vines nearly a thousand years ago (in 1093); the gentle slopes range from 199 to 458 meters above sea level providing (in the past) the region with a warm temperate oceanic climate. What has changed is the climate. Another change – for walkers such as I – are the cabottes. Cabottes, located in the vineyards, are charming, small structures, made from flat rocks and are square, rectangular, or round. They were used as shelters for wine pickers and to store tools. Now they are used by picnickers from afar. These intruders seem out of place in the vineyards, as do the cyclists, who jam up the small place in the town’s center.
One advantage of the drought has been the lack of mildew associated with wet conditions, making the grapes very healthy. The absence of any significant hailstorms in Meursault this summer has also benefited the harvest. I remember my son-in-law, just a few years ago, having to go into the vineyards at 3 am to set up shockwave generators or burn a mixture of acetone and silver iodide three to four hours before a storm was due to hit the vineyards, to break up the cloud-carrying hail.
The grape yields that have been affected are from younger vines that can’t withstand excessive heat. The vines’ flowers were also burned by the sun earlier in the season, which meant the grapes were smaller with less fruit.
Meursault wine appellation only produces white wine. The terroir and the climate of Meursault make the cultivation of the white grape varieties more favorable than red. The grape varieties grown are Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc. These varieties make up about 95 percent of the local vineyards. The remaining five percent is Pinot Noir, produced in a cluster of vineyards close to the neighboring village of Volnay, and bottled as Volnay Santenots.
Meursault is named after the Latin Mûris Saltus, translated as “Mouse Leap,” a river across the town, named by Roman soldiers. Like every commune in Côté-d’Or, the history of Meursault’s wine appellation is closely linked with the church. The new Cistercian abbey at Citeaux was formed by the ascetic Robert de Molesmes in 1098 on land gifted by Duke Odo of Burgundy. More donations and locals followed the church over the next couple of centuries making Meursault the heart of the famed Hospices de Beaune’s white wine holding
A Delicious Time to be Alive and in France
When my late husband, Richard, and I started to come to Meursault twenty years ago to visit our daughter and husband, who began working for prestigious local vineyards, the vendanges started in mid-October. It was a glorious time of the year; cool temperatures prevailed during the day for wonderful walks surrounded by beautiful foliage, leading to pleasant evenings sitting out on the terrace for pleasant aperitifs, followed by typically leisurely dinners that our children embraced as they became more French.
With the arrival of grandchildren, our annual October visits became a welcome part of the vendange, taking care of two small children while their parents worked, often from 7 am to 7 pm. It was a delicious time for Richard and me.
Since I moved here three years ago, temperatures have been getting warmer, and the vendange had been creeping into September, and now into August. Climate change is rewriting the calendar for families in Meursault and the rest of wine-producing France. For this past week, I’ve been the mami-taxi (granny-taxi), transporting my two grandchildren (10 and 13) to public pools as they await (willingly) the opening of school on September 1.
Their parents have decided to put a swimming pool into their grounds so next summer… Well, I can’t wait!
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