Bordeaux 2014: The Harvest
The picking in the 2014 vintage was more variable in terms of its progression than is usually seen. In most vintages the pickers progress gradually in a fairly steady step-wise fashion from white grapes for the dry wines, then onto the young Merlots in Pessac-Léognan and Pomerol, moving eastwards to St Emilion, then the left bank estates, continuing on to the older Merlots in each case. Then there is usually a break (one notable exception being Château Pontet-Canet, where Jean-Michel Comme claims that biodynamics has brought the harvest periods together) before the picking of the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon on both sides of the Gironde, as well as Petit Verdot of course. In 2014, however, the picking all seemed a little more haphazard than this, most probably as a result of the rather sporadic summer weather and the stuttering véraison. After all, if your vineyard sees two waves of colour change two weeks apart, it makes sense that you might subsequently need to pick earlier ripening Merlot first, followed by some younger earlier-ripening Cabernet, before returning to the later-ripening Merlots from the second wave of véraison. That makes – provided you are shooting for top quality (i.e. optimal ripeness) of course – for a very complicated harvest.
So the Bordelais had something of a harvest trial on their hands, but one thing was certainly in their favour. The picking generally started in mid-September and rolled on through to mid-October, under clear skies, the weather warm and dry but also sometimes breezy. Such beautiful conditions made for a rot-free harvest, a real change after the disastrous rush to pick in 2013, when not only the picking teams but also office and administrative staff and indeed any other idle pair of hands was sent out into the vines to bring in the fruit before everything was lost to botrytis.
Bordeaux 2014: The Dry Whites
I will deal with Sauternes in the appropriate regional report, so here I look just at the dry whites. The picking of the white grapes began in Graves and Pessac-Léognan during the final week of September, little different to the harvest dates in 2013 and 2012, although a couple of weeks behind that in 2011. Although there was obvious concern about the health of the grapes during the wet and cool summer, during September in the run up to picking it became clear that they were generally clean and healthy.
