Bordeaux 2019: The Harvest
The picking began with the dry whites, and as expected it was a very early harvest. The Bordelais then progressed with the reds, the key factor in determining the style of wine here being whether the fruit was picked before or after the late-September rains. Most estates delayed picking all or the majority of the crop until afterwards, but some – especially those where the focus is Merlot – picked at least a proportion of their harvest before the rains. The result was two different styles of wine, “looking like two different vintages” in the words of some. The later-picked fruit is regarded by many in the region as being of higher quality, although to be fair there are many wines made from earlier-picked fruit, especially in Pomerol which tends to harvest first on the right bank, which are exceptionally good.
Dry Whites
The harvest started in late August, on the 26th, picking the Sauvignon Blanc. This timing is compatible with other very warm vintages, such as 2018 (which began on August 23rd) and 2015 (which began on August 28th). The picking of this variety was generally completed by September 22nd.
The Semillon harvest kicked off a week or two later, on September 6th, and was generally completed by September 23rd, before the rains came. This early start was again compatible with warm vintages such as 2018 and 2015 (both of which began on September 5th). Indeed, the only recent vintage which kicked off earlier was 2017, although this was a year when yields and thus ripening were also heavily influenced by the April frost which slashed the crop on many vineyards, drastically reducing the amount of work the vines needed to do.
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