New Year 2017
New Year 2017
With another new year about to start it is time for us to express to all, our best wishes for an exceptional 2017..
The year 2016 is one which will go down in history: high in quality but low in yield because of frost, hail and illness which hit the whole of Burgundy and which has not spared the region over the last few years.
Burgundy produces just 0,5% and 3% of wine made in the world and France respectively and because some wines are scarce is often accused of catering for the elite but this is inevitable when losses in some sectors have been as high as 80/90%; we would far prefer to be able to meet all our customer’s demands and keep our prices stable but to maintain our heritage we also have to face economic realities.
We rely on you, the reader, to come and visit Burgundy in this New Year and discover this magnificent region and its multitude of “climats” recently listed as a UNESCO world heritage site; like the climats, our association consists in a mosaic of unique personalities, 39 members, women wine-growers in locations between Chablis and Macon whose everyday objective is to promote our values, skills and tradition in coordination within the scope of the FevB (Businesswomen in Burgundy wine association) and can be summed up as “l’union fait la force” – united we stand - today 39 members since December with the membership of Ludivine Griveau of the Hospices de Beaune whom we are glad to welcome in our midst.
We want to express a feminine outlook of Burgundy – not feminist – one which is educational because we are instrumental in passing down to future generations our particular winegrower’s knowledge; we have been active for 16 years and intend to continue so over the years to come.
In my status as president of the association since 2008 and on behalf of our members, I wish you an excellent 2017; that this year will be joyful and convivial full of hope, love and happiness – also, one of pleasure which is our chief motivation such that our wines may be in the forefront on your table and on every memorable occasion.
Virginie TAUPENOT
Présidente of Femmes et Vins de Bourgogne
Le beau temps
I have just spent a whole afternoon checking each cask for any olfactory anomaly……….and all is fine for the 2016 vintage which did not start off too well; indeed, a superb month of September finally allowed the grapes to reach full maturity after the frost and hail in Spring, which hit most of us, and a rather unsettled Summer.
The grape harvest was good and although the quantity meant that the vats were rarely full, the quality was excellent.
Now it is a matter of patience and give time for this new vintage to develop.
At last a little breathing time! But no! … I was forgetting that in readiness for the 2017 annual Saint Vincent celebration in our pretty village of Mercurey, I must prepare some decorations, organize some cooking/tasting sessions and attend 3 meetings already planned for this week….
As it is too early to taste the 2016 vintage, in the meantime come and join us on 28 and 29 January 2017 and let us enjoy together the Saint Vincent festivities in Mercurey to celebrate the winegrowers patron saint.
We hope to see you soon.
Martine Protheau
Frost 2016
La gelée noire... et la grêle blanche
April 13, 2016: violent hailstorm in Macon ... 1 500 hectares affected, with damage reported between 60 and 95% of crop loss ... not new, but unfortunately tragic for many farms ...
April 27, 2016: Dramatic frost
Three weeks have gone by and the consequences are easy to see but very hard to face ; of course, this refers to the frost damage which hit the Burgundy wine lands in the morning of 27 April.
Not one of our association members from the Chablis to the Macon regions was spared.
Some plots, which had never been known to be exposed to this risk, were hit this year because of the rainfall the night before which increased the effects; in fact the last time such a frost had occurred was in 1981.
The extent of the frost damage in the Burgundy area is estimated as follows:
*for 54% (15797 ha) between 0 and 30%
*for23% (6669 ha) between 30 and 70%
*for 23% approx (6784 ha) more than 70%
In those areas the most severely effected, the vegetation growth as a result is very slow and it is not easy to measure the impact on yield but the overall loss will be able to be evaluated according to the growth rate in each individual plot.
There will now be other matters to face: each vine plant will have to be monitored depending on the degree of frost damage or not, in order to assess how the grape harvest must be planned, most probably in several stages over a given period.
13 and 27 May 2016: violent hailstorm in Yonne.
