2009: how the History repeats itself - construction of a high class vintage:

After a long winter, cold and snowy, as in 2007 growth was early and fast because of the warm months of April and May in Burgundy.

Although the good sanitary state of the vines reminds us the year 2005, the growers had to prevent attacks of mildew, and later, at the end of the growth season, of powdery mildew on clusters.
This last one, particularly virulent on chardonnay, has required for the greatest vigilance at the end of treatment campaign.
It has caused some localized damage but important.

Flowering took place in two steps. It began early in late May helped by higher average temperatures than seasonal norms, but then has been spread over the first ten days of June marked by a cooling.

Hence, fertilization of the vine has been incomplete this year, resulting in a significant proportion of grapes hens and chicken "Millerand". These clusters include many small berries, seedless and with a great concentrated of sugar.

The heat wave we had from August 10, has trigged veraison (colour changes) and maturation really fast.

The grapes maturity of this year, associated with controlled yields, was complete with thick skins and berries very rich in sugar.
Indeed, we observed a phenomenon of evaporation and concentration of liquid through the skin of berries, that we know during hot summers and dry as in 2003.
This effect is leading to a high concentration of the wines (especially phenolic components level: tannins and anthocyanins).

In these circumstances, and given the warm, and sunny days that have accompanied the harvest, a fast picking was necessary.