A relatively mild winter and a rainy spring, saw a good grape output nearly everywhere and we began to expect a good quantity harvest in comparison to the small harvest of 2008.

In terms of the chardonnay, a cold snap hit right at the moment when the main bud was starting to blossom causing frost and therefore the death of the bud. The secondary buds then developed, but the quantity of the grapes from these buds is inferior to the main buds and this largely explains the important deficit reported this year for the harvest of this varietal.

No rain fell from 15th June except for a few very localised rain storms for some of the lucky ones. July was dry and fair but without any serious wave. On the other hand, August was fair and hot, activating the ripening process and the harvest started on average a week early.

The grape harvest is currently finishing. They started on 15th August in the Hérault, a week earlier than in 2008, with the white grape varietals and starting with the chardonnay.

As usual, there was a disparity between the winegrowers as there are those who wait for optimum ripening and those who look out for high alcoholic richness become anxious and prefer to harvest. For the whites, the anxiety is understandable as the alcoholic degrees are relatively high especially for the chardonnay and 14% is quite common.

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