Bordeaux 2023: Summer
It is fortunate that after the storms at the end of June the weather improved. Just as June is often stormy and wet in Bordeaux, July and August tend to be warmer and are usually considerably drier.
The rainfall was below the thirty-year-average in both July (22 mm versus 50 mm) and August (34 mm versus 56 mm), and the temperatures were warm, but not excessively so, coming in very close to the thirty-year average. Perhaps of more significance was the fact that the extreme warmth seen in 2022 did not return, although extreme heat before the véraison is not as worrying as some think (you only have to taste the 2022s to appreciate that – but let’s stick with 2023 for now).
The Véraison
While the flowering had occurred at a stage comparable with previous vintages, or perhaps a few days early, the warm conditions brought the start of the véraison – the colour change in the berries – significantly forward.
Indeed the first colour change was seen on the healthiest vines (those well protected against mildew) in the first ten days of July, barely four-to-six weeks after the flowering, although how the véraison then progressed seemed to vary greatly. Some reported that in the warm and dry July weather it initially progressed rapidly, the mid-véraison point being July 23rd, before it then slowed. Others reported the opposite, telling me it started slow, then finished quickly. Others said it depended on the variety, being quick in the Merlots, but slower for the Cabernets.
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