Vintage 2022 - Rhone Valley : A psychological vintage
I'm not teatching you anything, it was hot or more exactly, there was a lack of water...
A winter, a dry spring and long-awaited rains.
The vintners were about to do the rain dance, even those singing out of tune failed to spark a downpour.
Nevertheless, some corners of the Rhône valley benefited from some rain in July, which made it possible to last until August, finally, for those who had it...
Le scénario
Flowering was perfect, no major cryptogamic pressures, little or no frost, the bunches were plentiful, everything was beautiful and we were talking (with caution) about the vintage of the century...
And then the summer arrived, the temperatures rose up to 40° and the rain was always waiting… Again and again.
And that's where you had to have strong nerves.
Because when the vine is thirsty, the fewer grapes it has, the better it can develop its berries. So what to do? To remove or not?
If the crus are on lower yields, on the other hand for the Côtes du Rhône and the Igp, the question arose seriously.
In addition, the need to work the soil to aerate it was more than necessary, and those who are not used to this, did not have this reflex.
Another parameter to take into account: Brightness.
Usually, we practice topping, in order to expose the bunches to the sun to promote maturity.
For this year, it was necessary to leave foliage in order to protect the grapes, at least until September.
Unfortunately, for the young vines, there is nothing to do and they have therefore suffered overall.
Which also explains some early harvests…
Un millésime psychologique
So when at the beginning of August, the sky was still not rumbling, a slight panic was felt and the winegrowers launched the kick-off for the harvest.
For others, it was urgent to wait…
Overall, there hasn't been too much of a maturity blockage, but rather some slowdowns.
Good news: the sap stops this summer also prevented the alcohols from flying away... Which should therefore give reasonable levels... Et la pluie tomba