Annual climate references

Budburst: April 25

Flowering: May 15

Start of Veraison: August 11

Harvest: September 27

Weather in 2008

Initially close to normal seasonal values in October and November, temperatures were mild at the start of December until a heavy cold snap set in at mid-month. Despite fairly frequent morning frosts in January and February, mild weather prevailed during this period. Average monthly temperatures were 2°C above normal. Rainfall was scarce on the whole, with a very dry February.

A particularly rainy March, especially in the western area of Burgundy, ended a run of months that at best had normal rainfall. This month also marked the end of a very sunny winter. Despite a burst of spring during the middle period of March, the vine's rest spell ended in a rather cold ambiance, with snow on Easter Monday. 

The vegetative period did not start off under the best of auspices, and spring was long in coming. Often cool, with very little sun and heavy rain everywhere with accumulations almost equivalent to double the normal values, April 2008 was the complete opposite of April 2007. And while spring was still awaited, summer came along in the first days of May. The month was in fact very mild, even hot during the first half with temperatures regularly reaching 25°C in the shade. Rainfall, concentrated in the last 10 days of the month, was near seasonal values.

From June to August, temperatures were on the whole low for the season except for end-June and end-July, when summer tried to set in without really succeeding.

Heavy rain and repeated storms were frequent during this period. The month of August was particularly low on sunshine. Continuing on from the preceding months, the first half of September had heavy rainfall. The rain finally ended in mid-September, the sun returned and very cool weather - accompanied by a strong north-northeast wind - set in and lasted until the start of October.

Vine's evolution

Budburst occurred around April 25, with only a few days' delay compared to an average year - though obviously not a patch on 2007, an exceptional year where at the same period the vine already had an average of 5-6 leaves out! The cool, rainy first half of June upset flowering, which spanned two weeks, giving rise locally to coulure (aborted flowering). Veraison (changing of grape color) began in mid-August

The last week of August, hot and sunny, saw the end of the veraison and the evolution of ripening. Unfortunately, cool, unsettled weather arrived in the first days of September, with patches of botrytis developing along with slow ripening. From September 14, dry, windy weather set in for some time, putting a stop to the botrytis.

To sum up, this year (with 13 new moons), which was again climatically difficult, was very hard for us to deal with. We had to be out in the vineyards every day, under conditions that were often difficult, to bring a harvest of the highest quality possible into the cuverie. This vintage was saved by the second half of September, which made it possible to obtain very correct ripening, helped by controlling yields - including the elimination of the very large number of "second generation” (unripe) grapes.

Harvest time

The harvest at end-September occurred under dry and very cool conditions. Following rigorous sorting, we had a good-quality harvest with very satisfactory degrees into the vats.

The cool harvest favored long maceration, and fermentation didn't start easily. However, we've been watching this new vintage very closely, and the result is for now very promising and above all unhoped-for given the year's difficult weather conditions. This result is due to constant surveillance and daily work.

First Tasting

According to the initial tastings, the quality of this vintage seems comparable to that of 2007 and 2006.