Loire 2015: Winter
My first visit to the Loire Valley during 2015 was, as is always the case, to the Salon des Vins de Loire in February. On some occasions I have managed to get out into the vineyards of Anjou during this annual visit, but this has tended to be the exception rather than the rule; I did manage it in 2016, but not in 2015. In any case, I am not sure it really matters; a look at the vines at this time of year is rarely informative. Regardless of how mild the weather might be, the vines slumber, and other than the occasional snipping of the secateurs, clutched by the frostbitten fingers of the pruning team, there is little activity in the vineyard.
The value of winter in the vineyard comes with cold weather and precipitation. The former ensures the vines enter true dormancy, allowing the pruning to be completed before the sap starts to rise again. The latter ensures water tables are topped up, not usually a concern in the Loire Valley as summer does not usually bring dry and Sahara-like conditions (2015 may just be an exception to that rule). December was generally mild along the length of the Loire, with above-average temperatures throughout, and low rainfall; there was as little as one-third the normal amount of rain in Muscadet and Touraine, although figures were low everywhere. January followed on in the same vein, although the Central Vineyards saw above average rainfall. February was generally colder and wetter though, with temperatures down to -3.4ºC up in the Central Vineyards, which are often colder than more coastal appellations. Above average rainfall in Muscadet and Anjou won’t have done the water tables any harm. The weather during March was generally mild and unremarkable.
Spring
The benevolent weather continued during April, the time when the vines begin to wake from their winter respite. The skies were generally clear and sunny along the length of the Loire, which does of course bring the possibility of frost which can damage the young and tender buds. Happily there were no such problems, the coldest temperatures being recorded in the Nantais where the thermometer at the station climatique at La Roche-sur-Yon nudged down as far as 0ºC, but the mercury would have to drop below freezing to do any real harm. And thus the vines marched on unscathed into May, which was another generally mild, dry and sunny month.
