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Lauriann Greene-Sollin - French Wine Explorers
 On my last tour through the vineyards of France, Sept. 9 though 18
(Alsace, Burgundy, Bordeaux) we noticed that they were still harvesting in Alsace; in Burgundy we arrived on the last day of the
harvest, and in Bordeaux they were in the midst of harvesting or were about to start, depending on the chateau. Everywhere we went, the winemakers were sceptical about how this
vintage will turn out.
They are not used to working under these extreme conditions, and they have ended up with a raw material that is difficult to work with.
Exceptions to the appellation rules have been made in most regions: in Alsace, they will be allowed to acidify the wines this year (unheard of in this northern region where the wines have a naturally high level of
acidity). In some areas of Provence, they have been allowed to irrigate or water the vines, which were close to dying in some areas (also unheard of for
A.O.C's, where irrigation and watering are strictly
prohibited all over France). In Burgundy, I asked the
winemaker of Louis Jadot's Grand Crus what he was finding as he started vinifying the wines. He said there was a general lack of acidity, which was
troublesome, and he wasn't sure yet if the wines would be great this year. They would be good, he said, but not necessarily great. In Bordeaux, more scepticism - the ripeness of the skins was not great,
even though the pulp of the grapes was very sugary, and the lack of
acidity was again cited as being a problem. The feared result:
unbalanced wines with unripe tannins, too much
alcohol and not enough
acidity. Possibly also not very aromatic, as excessive heat does not allow the precursors of
aromas in the skins to develop to their potential. All over France, the attitude was very much "wait and see".
So early reports of "the
vintage of the century" were vastly
exaggerated. As in most things in life, the happy medium is
better than the extremes, and excessive heat generally makes for
uninteresting, bland and
unbalanced grapes. Thus the interest of
blending grape varieties in hotter climates.
Lauriann Greene-Sollin
- September 24th, 2003
www.wine-tours-france.com
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