Bordeaux 2020: A Lucky Break
In 2020 April, May and June saw persistent rainfall, not quite the prodigious level seen during the preceding November but still well above average on the whole. To complicate the issue for some, there were storms on the 9th and 10th of May, bringing a little hail in Entre-Deux-Mers and St Emilion. Aymeric de Gironde at Château Troplong-Mondot is one who reported a little hail damage, only affecting a strip of Cabernet Franc close to the edge of the plateau, but it was enough to reduce the percentage available for the grand vin. When I spoke with Jacques Lurton he also described some loss to hail on the Lurton vineyards in the Entre-Deux-Mers.
For most though, the ongoing rain and mildew pressure was the main concern. A few, such as Fabien Teitgen at Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte and the aforementioned Jacques Lurton, point the finger of blame for the year’s low yields at the mildew, these two respectively reporting 10% and 30% reductions in crop (although many more blame the berry dehydration that came later in the year).
At this time worried minds also began to turn to the forthcoming flowering. This was when Monsieur Propriétaire and his Bordeaux colleagues had their lucky break; the region enjoyed a week or so of warm and dry weather during the second half of May, and the well-watered vines took full advantage of it with a rapid and homogenous flowering, leading to good fertilisation and a successful fruit set. Dominque Arangoiits of Château Cos d’Estournel reported “between May 21st and May 24th we had four dry and really hot days, and the flowering was good at this time – it reminded me of the flowering we saw in 2005”.
Nobody (except perhaps the vines themselves) was more surprised at this than the Bordelais, who by this time had been labouring under fairly dreary conditions for many weeks.
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