On the left a tendril, on the right a grape.
With summer-like temperatures at the end of March, buds begin to swell.
On April 5th, the morning frost, though insignificant, makes a lot of damage in our vineyards.
Avize is heavily affected, as well as some vines in Vertus. Grass in our vines is good for soil life but it brings humidity that increases damage.
Since late April, vineyards have been cold and we are hoping for some warmth. Most winds come from the north / north-east. This is the Palm Sunday wind. The wind of the year as the saying goes!
Vines are growing very slowly. Leaves are more yellow than green, inflorescences (future grapes) are red, some of them are even becoming tendrils (this is called « filage », see photo). The plant hasn’t got enough energy, it favors survival over reproduction. So we have not been too busy so far in the vineyards.
We can focus on tasting the future cuvées. Chardonnays from 2018 in Champagne don’t have good press because of too high yields at the harvest. At Larmandier-Bernier, no risk of dilution, our yields remained measured. Besides this, we waited to pick fully ripe and tasty grapes. The results are very high degrees (too high ?), wines with a good freshness and some great cuvées that are taking shape; the Rosé de Saignée is promising.
Let us make our taste buds work a little bit more so that we will be ready for our bottling late July.