Bordeaux 2011: Winter & Spring
Any given vintage actually begins the preceding year, for several reasons. First, Vitis vinifera follows a two-year cycle, as the number of inflorescence primordia (the stems that bear the flowers, that will become bunches of grapes once fertilised) is determined by conditions during summer the year before. In the warm summer of 2010 photosynthesis and sugar generation within the vines proceeded relatively unhindered so there is no problem there. Second, as winter progresses, any depletion of the water table that has occurred during the summer needs to be corrected. And this was certainly an issue for the 2011 vintage, as rainfall was sparse, and gave the vines little reserves to rely on going into the growing season. Otherwise the winter was unremarkable, the temperatures close to the norm and giving no inkling of the unusual season to come.
Spring arrived, but as indicated above it did not feel much like spring. March was much warmer than usual, and this was evident when I visited Bordeaux for the 2010 primeurs in late March 2011. The temperatures were clearly way above what was expected for the time of year, the skies were blue and clear, the sun beating down. Primeurs tasters dashed from one sweltering tasting room to the next wearing shades and short-sleeved shirts rather than the customary coat, hat and scarf. The Merlots – which are more promiscuous than the Cabernets in budding as well as ripening – were already bursting into leaf (and they are doing the same this year, by the way).
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