2020

The Burgundy 2020 vintage: at the speed of light

After early and rapid budburst, mid-flowering should take place between May 20 and 25. The 2020 vintage thumbs its nose at confinement and is already breaking records.

Temperatures during the first half of March were above normal, triggering an early start to the growing season across Burgundy. Across the entire network of reference plots monitored by the Burgundy Wine Council (BIVB), the ...

In Bordeaux, the heat led to early flowering. Additionally, this led to an early harvest after a very hot summer. As a starting point, there is great maturity in the grapes, and we can expect a more opulent vintage than in recent years.

This year's summer was the hottest since 1959, but the rain fell at just the right time during the growing season. The harvest took place two weeks before the norm and will produce grapes with high alcohol potential and the lowest acidity since the 2003 vintage. As they say in Bordeaux: “It was a good and extreme growing season which , hopefully, also produces great wines.”

In Burgundy, the harvest is over for most farmers. It has been a year with a lot of heat both in July and August. A huge problem this year has been leaf-thinning and canopy management. Those who have not paid enough attention to the leaf-thinning experienced problems with sunburned grapes.

In Cote d’Or, it is especially the heat that has been tricky this season. First and foremost, some grapes have been burned by the sun resulting in raisins that the critical winegrower will not want in the cellar. Secondly, too much sun for a longer period caused stress among the vines and thus shut down the ripening. The result is grapes that look ripe but are still not ripe in taste. On the other hand, the most critical winegrowers report of really good grapes in the winery. Producers up north in Chablis are also reporting a satisfactory harvest.

The 2020 growing season and harvest occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. The weather was favourable, even if the sanitary situation was not. A multitude of unique labour and logistical issues required solving to get the vineyard work and grape picking complete. After a wet winter, a warm latter half of March prompted the vines to start their growth cycle well in advance of a typical year. Budburst took place in early April and warm conditions ensured rapid growth. The weather in May was largely satisfactory, with flowering taking place early at the end of the month. June and July were cooler than average with some cloud-covered skies and rains. Due to the heatwave in early August, ripening advanced quickly but decelerated towards the end of the month. The 2020 season ended up having one of the shortest ripening periods ever, with notable heterogeneity in reaching ripeness. In 2020, the sugar levels were slightly below those of 2019 and 2018 but acidity levels remained fresher than for 2018, the lowest of this promising trilogy of vintages. Judgement is reserved for the time being.

Despite the Challenges, the 2020 Vintage will not be Absent from the History Book

The 2020 season will be remembered for factors beyond the normal measurements. Here in the valley, it was a warm, dry winter and we didn't start to see rain and cold weather until the end of March. While the mild spring season gave us a great early start, the wineries of Napa Valley worked under extensive safety protocols due to the COVID pandemic. Summer brought very cool mornings and very warm days. This build-up to harvest was interrupted by two wildfires as we turned to the fall; The LNU Complex Fire started on August 17th and the Glass Fire started on September 27. The white wine harvest started in early August, the wines are showing excellent development in cellars, reflecting the fine vintage year. While the red wine harvest will be smaller than usual, most wineries were able to move forward with red wine vinification. While the 2020 Napa Valley harvest proved to be one of the most challenging in history, our winemakers remain not only optimistic but committed to bottling wines of the highest quality. The story of this vintage will continue to unfold over the years to come.

High rainfall in November and December of 2019 allowed Italy’s water reserves to be restored. Initial predictions from OIV indicate a reduced overall production of 47.2mhl, down only 1% compared to 2019. We’re happy to report that despite a chaotic year for most of us, 2020 is looking like a successful vintage for many Italian producers.

Veneto: The growing season began slightly early for our Venetian growers, and with no reported problems during flowering and fruit set. Mild temperatures and precipitation from March through July were beneficial. Temperatures rose in July and early August, followed by summer storms in the flatlands of Valpolicella that were intense and created some sporadic problems due to heavy rain and some hail, but thankfully didn’t create any lasting damage. The quality and health of the grapes are good, with normal levels in sugar, in line with previous years

Piedmont: 2020 is a vintage to watch, as Barbera and Nebbiolo producers report a calm growing season, with nice weather throughout August and September. The harvest began in October and the health of the grapes is reported to be perfect, with good sugar levels and phenolic ripeness. The key contributing factor was the temperature shift between day and night, helping to develop great aromas and retain freshness.

Tuscany: The weather in Chianti and Montalcino in San Polino’s words “behaved perfectly and properly all summer long with a hot July and August interspersed with exactly the right amount of rainfall at exactly the right time.” Rain just before the harvest brought the relief vineyards needed from hot winds and the soils greedily absorbed any excess water in time for picking. The 2020 vintage for Brunello di Montalcino has less quantity than usual but its quality, San Polino reports, “is out of this world. May be one of those vintages to remember.”

Sicily: The 2020 vintage was very typical for Sicilian growers, and with no major issues. The weather was very dry throughout the year, with some drought, but not too hot, and without extensive heat waves. Mild winds gave the island a healthy environment for grapes to grow and for pickers at harvest time. At the end of July temperatures dropped and there was a lot of rain, which re-balanced reserves and slowed ripening. Thanks to a temperature range of almost 20 degrees between day and night, we can expect good acidity, balanced with phenolic ripeness in Sicilian wines from 2020.

2020 VINTAGE REPORT AUSTRIA

2020 will be remembered as a growing season of opposites, in which rain followed sun and cold followed heat. Combined with the specificities of the regions, this required a lot of intuition and patience on the part of the winegrowers. And they have been rewarded – we can expect invigorating fresh whites, finely balanced reds and sweet rarities.

Although the 2020 growing season varies greatly between different wine regions, fresh, aromatic, lighter, dynamically structured white wines are emerging this year. In other words, a classic “Austrian” vintage. The picture is a little more nuanced for red wines, because the high physiological maturity of the grapes in some red wine hearts raises the hope of very high quality with a moderate alcohol content.

CONSTANTLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS

After a dry winter that barely lived up to its name, some regions experienced a slight delay in budding. A very hot and sunny April did little to accelerate development as it was accompanied in many places by extreme drought which lasted for weeks. A few freezing nights caused damage in inconvenient places, but overall it was insignificant. May saw large amounts of rain and June was also very wet and changeable. Flowering took place at the usual average time and was generally unproblematic, although there was occasional coulure in some grape varieties.

A good old-fashioned summer followed, characterized by alternating sunny and rainy periods, without long heat waves or temperature spikes. In any case, frequent rainfall led to strong plant growth and disease pressure, so careful pruning and good aeration of the grape area were important to combat the spread of disease fungal. By mid-August, the vineyards were in very good condition. However, some regions then experienced localized hailstorms, which caused serious damage in parts of the Wachau, Kremstal and Traisental; some wine-growing towns in Burgenland and Steiermark were also affected.

September was also a month of contrasts. On the one hand, there were as many hours of sunshine as in a summer month and daytime temperatures just as high; On the other hand, many places experienced prolonged heavy rains towards the end of the month with record rainfall levels. Winemakers had a lot of work to do to keep their grapes healthy in hot, humid weather. The relatively low nighttime temperatures had a positive effect on aroma formation and acidity. The main harvest began at the beginning of September and continued mainly in very good conditions until the end of October. Even outside of hail-affected wine regions, careful selection and the associated costly harvesting process were required.

NIEDERÖSTERREICH & WIEN: A WIDE SPECTRUM

In Lower Austria) and Vienna (Vienna), very fresh and fruity wines are expected with a slightly lower alcohol content and more pronounced acidity than in recent years.

The typical characteristics of the grape varieties are expressed well, both in the flagship Grüner Veltliner and in the Riesling and Pinot family. It might be a little more difficult for bouquet wines like Muskateller and Traminer to show their full potential. The Klassik and Gebietsweine wines (regional wines) should prove very enjoyable as they combine bold freshness and clear fruitiness with invigorating, non-aggressive acidity. The performance of the Reserve’s white wines is eagerly awaited. Due to meticulous selection in 2020, only small volumes of these could be produced. Here we can expect Riedenweine (single vineyard wines) and premium wines with balance, precision, structure and stability for longer storage.

The main red wine regions of Thermenregion and Carnuntum expect fruity, somewhat lighter and elegant red wines with all grape varieties and categories represented; The best wines could match the delicate fruitiness of the 2016 vintage. Alongside Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch, Sankt Laurent and Pinot Noir are particularly promising.

BLESSED BURGENLAND?

According to numerous reports and first tastings, Burgenland could be one of the winners of the current vintage. On the one hand, the heavy autumn rains did not reach the wine-growing villages on Lake Neusiedl at all and had very little effect in central and southern Burgenland. On the other hand, the region was able to reap above-average benefits from the early ripening of grapes caused by climatic conditions. As a result, the main harvest around Lake Neusiedl was completed before the weather changed in the second half of September. The only downside came in the form of several localized hailstorms.

The 2020 white wines of all grape varieties are characterized by a ripe, harmonious flavor, enhanced by zesty acidity, making expectations high for Leithaberg and similar wines.

Expectations are equally high for all Burgenland appellations when it comes to red wine quality. As is always the case in colder years, it was important to reduce the yield accordingly in 2020. In the best case scenario, it should be possible to produce coolly elegant and fruity red wines. sweet, which can be comparable to those of 2016. Overall, we can expect well-balanced Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch of astonishing maturity, while French varieties from suitable locations could also attract attention.

It's still a little early to make predictions about dessert wines. However, late but noble sweet rarities like Ruster Ausbruch DAC and Neusiedlersee DAC could be obtained, albeit in smaller quantities. Occasional night frosts even allowed Eiswein to be pressed.

STYRIA, FROM END TO END

The lighter white Gebietsweine from Steiermark will undoubtedly display regional typicity. Wine connoisseurs can look forward to fresh, crisp Welschriesling, Muskatellers and Sauvignons that combine pure, varietally typical fruitiness with zest. Much like the denser Ortsweine (village wines) and Riedenweine (single vineyard wines), these too have the characteristics that make them so distinct.

Also in Styria, the rainy low pressure area in September marked a turning point and interrupted the harvests. Those who had the nerve to wait a little after the rain before resuming the harvest were rewarded with a wonderfully sunny October, which allowed the grapes to ripen to perfection. Of course, precise selection was then essential to obtain a healthy harvest, with the associated loss of volume. Thus, it was possible to harvest the same Riedenweine that is responsible for the great fame of Steiermark wine producers.

Sauvignon Blanc, Steiermark flagship, should prove particularly attractive and characteristic as it naturally benefits from a good water supply. After the wait mentioned above, the Pinot family also performed at a good level, and this is also true for the Sausal Rieslings. In some cases this can be a little more difficult for the Muskateller, as the appearance of Spotted Wing Drosophila has sometimes forced an undesirable early harvest.

SURPRISING BERGLAND

All-round satisfaction was expressed this year in Bergland, which is comprised of a variety of winegrowing enclaves.

Winegrowers from Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) are reporting an extremely successful vintage, completely unimpaired by the vagaries of the weather. Accordingly, mature and intense wines full of juice and strength are expected.

Similarly pleasing news is also coming from Kärnten (Carinthia), where an equally pleasant autumn followed abundant precipitation in spring and summer to ensure satisfying maturity and distinctive aromatics. With higher acidity, the quantity and sugar gradation are lower than last year, but dynamic wines for easy drinking are assured.

In the Tyrolean and Vorarlberg vineyards in far-west Austria, prudent plant protection was more important than ever to ward off infestation by downy mildew (Peronospora) and powdery mildew (Oidium). Thorough defoliation of the grape zone was required to prevent Botrytis cinerea. The Alpine föhn winds that are typical here in autumn almost failed to materialise in 2020; however, by mid to late October, the harvest of mature grapes of above-average quality could be completed.

RHONE VALLEY VINTAGE 2020 by M. Chapoutier

Early harvests are the hallmark of great wines. 2020 will undoubtedly stand out as an atypical leap year. The season started slowly, with temperatures reaching 10°, which helped us put winter behind us. The first effects of this gentleness were the appearance of grass growth in the plains of Crozes-Hermitage, bringing bright colors to the landscape. As pruning progresses on the slopes, in mid-February the almond trees begin to flower, about ten days earlier than expected. Pruning wounds have been treated to protect them from disease. Very quickly, the first signs of vine leakage began, announcing its awakening.

The winter was mild, marked by a water shortage over the period but reserves had built up at the end of 2019 (more than 500 mm in total). In mid-March, the buds begin to shake and emerge from their cotton, heralding the start of a rapid sequence of events. At the end of March, the first leaves spread, the bud arrived early, 10 days earlier than the previous year... Life returned to the vine with the appearance of the first insects, the first flowers and a few eaters of buds that feed on the Bessards while the urban landscape was hidden. A completely different setting awaited us at sunrise on March 26 at Domaine Les Granges de Mirabel, with an unexpected but breathtaking carpet of snow.

The lack of a real winter made spring frosts a threat, and on April 1, the temperature dropped to -2°C, burning some young leaves and buds in the Beaumont Monteux plain. The spring makeover of the landscape came with poppies dotted among the vines, splashing color onto the hillside canvas. At Domaine Les Granges de Mirabel, the intense sunshine in April and May accelerated the growth of the vines. The diversity of organisms between the rows of vines brought the landscape to life.

The bud pruning was barely finished when the vines needed the help of the support wires. Horn silica (preparation 501) was exactly what we needed at that time. At the end of April, inflorescences were clearly visible on both sides of the northern Rhône valley appellations. The branches reached to the sky. And finally the first heavy rains arrived, and with them, thunderstorms. Rainfall in May (more than 100 mm) combined with rising temperatures stimulated plant growth. Green work could begin on the vines, with a first and quickly a second securing campaign, while flowering was in full swing on the Ermitage and Saint-Joseph, in an ideal climate. The flowers, Le Méal, were already jumping from the newly formed berries.

The calculations had to be carried out in double time, showing that we could expect an earlier vintage than in previous years... Even on the heights of Saint-Péray in Payrolles, the vines were ahead of schedule. Of course, we had to adapt to the pandemic, learn everything about infection prevention and control measures, reorganize teams so that everything could function properly during the lockdown. Of course, it’s the vine that sets the rhythm, and the rhythm was fast! A world of contrasts...

While the month of June began without cryptogrammic pressure thanks to a dry summer climate, in the southern Rhône valley, the rains were a welcome prelude to summer. They brought some epidemics of mildew on flowers in Gard but Vaucluse and in particular Châteauneuf-du-Pape, were spared. And the Grenache “hung on” as they say, without any runoff, guaranteeing a good harvest. The bunches continued to grow in June, but a few hailstones fell on Combe Pilate, at a time of year when the berries are fragile, the season still young. The wounds healed quickly and continued the repair process throughout the summer, loosening the bay in a perfectly natural way. At the end of June, in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Grenache grapes were splendid and so different from 2019 when the successive heat waves had so marked them. And already, the veraison was underway on the Hermitage in the first week of July, surprisingly extending to all sectors, from Pavillon to Greffieux, erasing the usual differences between buttress, slope and orientation.

In mid-July, hail fell on Chasse-sur-Rhône, but spared Côte-Rôtie. The healing herb blends and runoff water helped the leaves regenerate quite quickly. Overall, veraison was late. On the Côte Brune (La Mordorée), veraison also began very early. But Ampuis felt the heat, and in places

The harvest ended on September 18th with the Cornas de Saint-Pierre in the Northern Rhône Valley. We had to wait to harvest the last Châteauneuf-du-Pape plots until September 26th. Truly, we saw what can only be described as a wondrous climatic inversion for this 2020 vintage! Marked by exceptional earliness and scorching mid-summer heat, the 2020 vintage offers us wines full of elegance and pedigree, far from the excesses we might have expected. They have all the markers of great ageing potential because preserved acidity and remarkable phenolic maturity. The elegance of the red wines and the expression of minerality supported by a beautiful acidity on the whites are the hallmarks of this particular vintage that is full of surprises.

Chile Vintage Report 2020: A 2020 harvest that no one will forget

The 2020 Chilean vintage will be a harvest that no one will ever forget, not only because of an extremely early and hot season that was made particularly difficult due to the ongoing drought, but also because it was affected by the coronavirus pandemic which broke out towards the end of the harvest. “We will all remember this vintage,” says Emily Faulconer of Viña Carmen, who makes wine with grapes from all over Chile. “To begin with, it was marked by a very severe drought and a warmer winter than usual, which led to much earlier flowering in most vineyards.

A hot year like this can be very difficult in terms of organization, because the harvest window is much smaller and more complex and you harvest red and white varieties at the same time. But in this case, it was a blessing in disguise – even though we didn't know at the time that we were about to face the coronavirus pandemic – because it meant that most of our harvest was finished by when the quarantine started. Harvest dates were brought forward by a week to a month in some valleys, meaning that most producers had brought in the vast majority of their grapes by the end of March, when the curfew and restrictions quarantine came into force. The early harvest was also aided by lower yields; There was a widespread reduction of 20% to 30% caused by a combination of drought conditions, warm temperatures and significant losses from a fierce frost event in

September, October and November — with several nights falling below 0°C each month in many areas of the Central Valley. “As they say in the countryside, 'dry winters bring frosts,' and we were hit by three big periods of frost,” says Eduardo Jordán, winemaker at Miguel Torres, which produces wine in many of Chile's wine regions. . “It was also an extremely dry vintage - with a big rain deficit across almost all of Chile. In Curicó we had 500 mm less rain than normal; and in La Serena, for example, where we usually get 78mm of rain, only 12mm of rain fell! This year in Maipo, the hills, which are normally green and covered with vegetation, were completely gray, as the plants could not survive the drought and dried up. It’s amazing how, year after year, we see how global warming is reducing rainfall here in the South. » Drought in Chile is becoming a major concern. It lasted more than a decade and is considered one of the most extreme in living memory. In Curicó, for example, 2019 was the driest year on record, with a rainwater deficit of more than 75%.

In a survey by the Chilean Winegrowers Association, 80% of wineries and producers surveyed said the drought had a severe effect on their vintage this year. Working with drought-tolerant varieties is likely to become an increased priority in Chile from now on, and some winemakers have noted that these are the varieties that have performed best this year. “This year is going to be a very good year for Mediterranean grape varieties, including Syrah, Carignan and Monastrell, as well as Sémillon,” says Christian Sepúlveda, winemaker at Bouchon Family Wines in Maule. “I have seen these vigorous varieties do very well despite the lack of water and consistently high temperatures this vintage. While Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot suffered more from lack of water and high temperatures, we therefore had to pay particular attention to our harvest dates to avoid any dehydration and use delicate extraction techniques during winemaking.

Quality despite diminished quantity: Chile Vintage 2020 “This will probably go down in history as the strangest harvest! » reported Felipe Müller, winemaker in Tabalí in the Limarí Valley. “Firstly because it was a very early vintage, secondly because Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère had very low natural yields (respectively -15% and 30%), thirdly because hot vintages are not normally the best, but this year the wines have spectacular quality, and last but not least, it was strange because of the impact of Coronavirus during the vintage. » Although the heat, low yield and pressure of a pandemic were the perfect storm for a difficult vintage, Felipe says he was surprised by the quality obtained

Rapport du millésime 2020 au Chili par vallée:

Rapport de récolte Elqui 2020 Une année chaude et sèche avec quelques difficultés en termes d’accès à l’eau. La production de Pisco devrait diminuer d’un cinquième. Limarí rapport de récolte 2020 Année chaude et sèche sans rapports de gel. Cependant, les pénuries d’eau ont entraîné une réduction significative des rendements (jusqu’à 40% dans certaines régions).

Rapport du millésime Choapa 2020 Un millésime très chaud, qui a vu beaucoup de raisins déshydratés et une vague de chaleur qui a causé des pertes allant jusqu’à 50% dans certaines régions. Rapport du millésime Aconcagua 2020 Année chaude et précoce, sans rapports de gel. La véraison a eu lieu avec 15 jours d’avance dans la plupart des régions et un été chaud a fait que la récolte a eu lieu entre 15 et 20 jours plus tôt que la normale. La production est en baisse de 10% à 20% par rapport à l’année dernière en raison de la moindre disponibilité de l’eau.

Rapport de récolte San Antonio & Casablanca 2020 Un hiver très sec, un printemps chaud et un été très chaud. Les gelées de septembre et d’octobre ont touché la plupart des régions de San Antonio et de Casablanca, et les producteurs ont signalé des pertes allant jusqu’à 30% (et des pertes encore plus importantes dans certains cas). Les températures à Leyde ont été enregistrées jusqu’à -5°C le 2 octobre. Les cépages les plus touchés par les gelées étaient le Chardonnay, suivi du Sauvignon Blanc et du Pinot Noir. La baisse des rendements et un été chaud ont entraîné des dates de récolte beaucoup plus précoces.

Rapport du millésime Maipo 2020 Millésime précoce, sec et chaud. Quelques gelées ont été signalées à Pirque et Melipilla, en particulier, bien que les dommages aient surtout été causés par les variétés précoces de Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc et Pinot Noir, qui sont beaucoup moins fréquentes à Maipo. La floraison a eu lieu jusqu’à deux semaines plus tôt et la récolte a eu lieu deux à trois semaines plus tôt en raison du temps chaud. La restriction de l’approvisionnement en eau a également entraîné une baisse de la production allant jusqu’à un cinquième.

Rapport du millésime de Cachapoal 2020 Un millésime chaud et sec arrivé au moins deux semaines plus tôt. Le Chardonnay et le Sauvignon Blanc ont été affectés par les gelées (avec une production en baisse allant jusqu’à 30%) et le Merlot a également été affecté dans une moindre mesure (avec une baisse de rendement de 10%). La sécheresse a également considérablement entravé les rendements cette année, réduisant la production de Chardonnay et de Cabernet Sauvignon et plusieurs producteurs ont abandonné certains secteurs de leurs vignobles cette année par manque d’eau.

Colchagua vintage report 2020 A very dry and hot year with barely any rain, which caused significant drought problems. Both flowering and harvest were more than two weeks early in most sectors, and frosts affected some vineyards quite severely. The combination of drought and frost means some producers are reporting major losses of over a third of their normal production levels. 

Curicó harvest report 2020 Dry, hot and early vintage which saw some record high temperatures. Water shortages and drought caused significant problems for producers, especially in Sagrada Familia and Romeral. Production was also down because of frosts (which mainly affected Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon), and in general producers are reporting a drop in production of between 10% and 30%.   

Maule vintage report 2020 Dry and hot year where the drought was particularly acute for dry-farmed regions which received very little rain this year. Flowering was up to 20 days early in some sectors, heat waves were an issue for many vineyards and some sectors were also affected by frost, resulting in production being down by between 10% and 25%.   

Bio-Bío & Itata vintage report 2020 A much drier year than normal and a warm spring brought flowering forward by up to 20 days in some regions. Frost in November also caused significant losses in some parts of Itata in particular. Dry-farmed regions were hit hard by the lack of rain, and there was also insufficient water for irrigation, causing a loss in production of up to a third.   
 

SOUTH AFRICA / 2020 vintage – An overview

The weather seasons, which each year play a major role in the development of the vines (and then, ultimately, in the development of the Bouchard Finlayson fruit), were most promising during the first stages of the 2020 vintage. The weather was magnificent in early spring 2019 and helped induce a healthy and vigorous budding phase in the Bouchard Finlayson vineyards. Conditions were also near perfect throughout the flowering period; and remained so throughout the berry setting – with moderate temperatures and only very occasional and very brief periods of rain. Favorable climatic conditions have allowed our vineyards to remain extremely healthy, displaying optimal vigor, during the gradual unfolding of all the aforementioned phases of vine development.

So we were not already - at the beginning of January - at the start of ideal ripening conditions, and we were confidently anticipating uninterrupted progress towards the fast-approaching 2020 harvest... when the first significant rainfall of the previous growing season announced his arrival. The actual harvest period thereafter, from the last days of January until the second week of March, was also constantly interrupted by episodes of light, intermittent rain. Naturally, we were much more concerned about the eventual quality of the 2020 harvest after the weather conditions turned this way, and we could never have predicted that the 2020 vintage would deliver the superb wines that are now progressing towards further potential in the cellar.

The extraordinary, as in the weather conditions, made it possible to obtain extraordinary results. We are now – after the harvest – obviously very grateful for these atypical quirks of nature which helped in the development of these distinctive wines ultimately born from this exceptional vintage! The actual picking operations began on January 30 - with plots of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir from early ripening sites. The first batch of Chardonnay grapes was picked the next day. (These three cultural pillars traditionally occupy the main focus of our activities during the initial phase of each harvest period). When we check our recorded harvest data – relating to the last four consecutive vintages – it seems evident that the last week of January has now become the “new normal”, in terms of the “kick-off” of release operations. This “normal” represents the optimal period of the very first phase of picking and marks the seasonal convergence of all viticultural and wine-making interventions. This comparatively earlier onset in recent years could likely be attributed to broader selection of "early" maturing sites compared to "late" maturing sites - rather than attributing this subtle change (away from the "old normal") to decisive changes in global climatic conditions.

The harvest period always allows us to know with certainty that the work of a year in progress is coming to fruition... And this constitutes a great driving force for the workers involved in harvesting operations. This year was not exceptional - the picking progressed quickly according to a daily schedule prescribed by the different stages of maturation manifested... and monitored... in our vineyards.

The final catches of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon were quickly followed by more Chardonnay and more Pinot Noir, then by Weisser Riesling, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Shiraz, finally Sangiovese. The far from ideal weather conditions which had preceded the harvest period and which had sometimes also darkened the picking weeks had apparently only benefited our harvest - because the consumption conditions were still good, with balanced natural acidifications and flavor profiles. loaded.

The winery also had to accommodate the gradual delivery of Chardonnay grapes from Kaaimansgat farm, (near Villiersdorp), during the very first week of March. These parcels of grapes come specifically from the production of “Crocodile’s Lair” Chardonnay, which has been part of the Bouchard Finlayson wine range for the past 25 years. Harves’ operations finally came to an end in mid-March, when a final batch of our own Mourvèdre grapes was processed at the Bouchard Finlayson winery.

GREAT BRITAIN VINTAGE REPORT 2020 - Lyme Bay Winery may be based in Devon, but it sources its fruit from 16 producers across the south of England.

This year's frost, according to managing director James Lambert, was not only brutal when it came to the 2020 vintage. It also revealed which vineyards are most likely to have a long-term future and which ones will have difficulties.

“Some sites suffered from very late frosts in May,” he says. “For us, the Oxfordshire location was the worst – and the secondary shoots never really matured. Marginal sites have really been hit. »

Lambert is increasingly excited about the grapes coming out of parts of Essex, and this year's harvest has only reinforced that feeling.

“There is an area just around the Crouch Valley where we noticed the fruit was riper than elsewhere, and on top of that the fruit was very consistent,” he says.

“This year we had Pinot Noir from the Crouch Valley at 106 Oechsle, which is a record for the UK. The lowest we have had this year for Pinot Noir from the same region is 93 Oechsle. These are extremely commercial maturity levels.

“Once you reach that level, you have the physiological maturity, which allows you to really go to town on extracting without worrying about astringency – it becomes a virtuous cycle. »

Lyme Bay works on long-term partnerships with its growers in the Crouch Valley, where the river flows west to east with south-facing vineyards on the northern banks.

Chardonnay also flourishes in the surrounding area. “There are more and more vineyards popping up, and in the next 10 years, this particular region will become a grand cru for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay,” Lambert predicts.

Lyme Bay does not only rely on Burgundian varieties. It's been a good year for Bacchus, and Lambert says the best results come from mixing over-ripe and under-ripe fruit. The variety is sometimes called England's answer to Sauvignon Blanc, but Lyme Bay is also investing in Sauvignon, again in Essex.

“We have Sauvignon Blanc on tap,” Lambert says. “It’s 97 Oechsle and we’ll plant three acres of it next year. This blew my mind. This is ripe Sauvignon Blanc – it’s incredible. »

Lambert sees no reason why English Riesling couldn't be viable and is also exploring more ambitious red varieties.

“I think Shiraz could be very interesting, and people are talking about Cabernet Franc and Gamay,” he says. “All it takes is one or two pioneers in the right areas to try something and get to market and people will follow. »

MARLBOROUGH VINTAGE 2020: GREAT FRUIT FROM AN EXTRAORDINARY HARVEST

Marlborough wine companies are counting their luck, after harvesting the 2020 vintage amidst a national lockdown. But the vintage will be remembered for more than winery bubbles and Covid-19 precautions, with a benign season delivering excellent fruit.

“If you didn’t panic; if you weighed up your options and proceeded calmly, then you could make the most of an extremely good harvest – one of the best we’ve had,” says Dog Point viticulturist Nigel Sowman.

On March 23, wine operations were categorised as essential businesses by the New Zealand Government, allowing the industry to operate through Alert Levels 3 and 4, contingent on strict criteria. Countless employees were sent home, and rigorous measures were put in place in vineyards, transport, accommodation and wineries, says Wine Marlborough general manager Marcus Pickens.

“People took it incredibly seriously. They recognised the privileged position the wine industry was in, and the risk of it being shut down at any time,” he says. “The adoption of new ways was swift and extreme and, as it turns out, incredibly effective. People were kept safe, the grapes got off the vines, through the presses and into their tanks and barrels, and it sounds like the quality of fruit is incredible.”

Nigel says it was a vintage of two halves for the company, with the “very labour intensive” process of hand picking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay largely completed by a full complement of staff, before Covid-19 changed the face of Marlborough’s harvest.

When New Zealand went into lockdown, Dog Point retained six vineyard staff, plus Nigel, with everyone living on the property, either in their own houses or in luxurious accommodation at The Bell Tower. “What we ended up with was a very small, tight-knit team,” says Nigel. The winery crew, including Nigel’s wife Kathy, were also living on the property, all part of the same isolation bubble. “There were 17 of us that made this harvest go smoothly to capture the quality.”

Dog Point founder Ivan Sutherland was a steady hand at the helm throughout, and resolved that they needed to continue hand picking, staying true to the ethos of Dog Point, while showing commitment to the sustainability of contractors, says Nigel. “He made a decision that instead of panicking, to be very calm about what we did.” With fantastic weather, clean and beautiful fruit, and good protocols, there was no reason not to hand pick, he says. “And we have been able to do it extremely efficiently, keep people employed, and stay true to our same quality levels.”

He admits if the lockdown had occurred in a year like 2018, when disease and weather pressure made for incredibly complex harvest conditions, the industry would have struggled to get through. Instead, they had beautiful conditions, with a long dry season, slightly cooler towards the end, resulting in a slightly longer hang time. “When the season is fractionally later, you can develop maximum flavour in your grapes.”

Rob Agnew, from Plant & Food Research Marlborough, says this season was drier for longer than the previous year, with just 43mm of rain between December 21 and April 21, compared to 185mm in a normal year. Most of that rain was between March 26 and  April 18. However, despite the very dry conditions in 2020, vines fared far better than the summer of 2019, when a similarly low amount of rain fell in January and February. In 2019, Wairau River water restrictions kicked into place on February 1 and ran through until March 8, with the exception of one day. That resulted in crippling water stress in some vineyards, and growers trucking water to parched vines.

Rob says the main reason the 2020 season did not suffer the same water stress was the big dump of rain between December 16 and 20, 2019, which ensured plants, soils and waterways were more resilient to the subsequent dry patch, long as it was. The Wairau River was only off for seven days this season, says Rob, noting that the industry ”dodged a bullet”.

Growing degree days were well above average, but lower than the previous two years, which Rob describes as having delivered “pretty brilliant, out-of-the box” summers. The 2019/2020 summer, from the second week of December through most of January, was cooler than average, he says. However, temperatures in February were well above average, ensuring a good start to ripening.

March was slightly cooler than average, but with warm days and cool nights and almost no rainfall. This was good news for grape growers, because it allowed fruit to ripen in ideal conditions without any disease pressure from botrytis bunch rot. The lower night temperatures would have helped to retain acids, with cool autumn nights part of the magic of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

Plant & Food Research’s four long-term Sauvignon Blanc monitoring blocks indicate that berry size this year was a lot smaller than average, as was the case in 2019, which Rob surmises was due to the dry weather during January and February, and running into March this year. A big dump of rain in late December or early January can result in big berries, “and the opposite is also true”, he says.

Bunch numbers were also down this year, due to cool temperatures in late November 2018, when the 2020 bunches were initiated. However, warm weather in late November and early December 2019 saw excellent flowering for Sauvignon Blanc, so berry numbers were well up on average, resulting in final yields being average, or close to it.

Looking forward to next vintage, Plant & Food’s Sauvignon Blanc yield prediction model – based on temperatures from November 10 to December 10, 2019 – shows 2021 bunch numbers should be well up on 2020.

Rose Family Estate winemaker Nick Entwistle says great fruit made for happy workers in the 2020 vintage, setting the tone for positive – if unusual – winery work. “Not having disease or rain pressure made things a lot easier,” he says. “The sun was shining every day and people were turning up to work happy.”

Poor quality fruit makes for much more work in a normal vintage, but would have been far worse if layered on the pressures of a Covid-19 harvest, he says. “If there was average quality fruit it would have been hard to keep people motivated.” Instead they had sunny days, cool nights, low disease and good crop levels, with the ability to “pick and choose” throughout harvest.

Nick says the fruit had “really nice balance” this year. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris volumes were back up to average and Sauvignon Blanc was at average yields, or above average on some blocks. The conditions enabled a longer ripening period, resulting in good fruit from blocks that had struggled in recent years.

Operations in the winery were adapted to meet Level 4 criteria, but the existing procedures – required for British Retail Consortium (BRC) certification – meant the changes were not extreme, Nick says. However, the extra care and attention required of every person had unexpected consequences in terms of work ethos, he says. “We were asking so much of them, and subconsciously some of that translated into the way people were working in the winery.” People were looking out for everyone else and working under pressure, and that meant “people were here for business”, he says. “We had a really good group of people and a great team vibe, with everyone really committed.”

Staff were given a few days off at the start of Easter, but lockdown conditions meant they were eager to get back to work, he says. “Vintage was a nice distraction for us.”

Nick, who is also a Marlborough Winegrowers board member, said the industry was lucky to have New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) and Wine Marlborough advocating for them at Government level when the country approached Alert Level 4, reassuring the Ministry for Primary Industries that the sector could operate safely as an essential provider. The guidance subsequently given by NZW was well received by companies, Nick says. “It set the tone for what their expectation of us as members was.” And the industry responded in all the right ways, putting in place the checks and balances required, he adds.

Marlborough Mayor John Leggett praised the local wine industry for successfully handling the 2020 vintage under extreme circumstances. “Wineries had to adopt stringent health and hygiene regimes, particularly as they were managing local and overseas vintage workers, harvest crews in the field and transport operators. Some local staff have been isolated from their families for the duration of vintage,” he said, as harvest drew to a close. “Everyone has been under huge pressure to get the grapes in, aware that a Covid-19 outbreak could knock down the workforce at any moment.”

It was to the industry’s credit that harvest was completed without incident “and, by all accounts, it’s a highly successful vintage”, he said. “Wine is a very substantial contributor to the overall prosperity of Marlborough so I’m relieved that this is one Covid bullet that we’ve managed to dodge.”

2020 – NZ's cliffhanger vintage

It was the unannounced management meeting on Monday morning, and the hushed conversation that I witnessed this morning between our senior management staff and a worried-looking European harvest intern, that got me properly scared. Scared for my colleagues’ health; for the prospects of harvest and for the new wines we’re making; scared about the future of our jobs, the winery, our vineyard growers; and, of course, scared for my own family’s health, too. 

The morning had been a blur between managing our harvest fruit intake with trucks rolling in, the harvest compliance documentation (never-ending) and plenty of winemaking client communication, all while walking around the winery to figure out which tanks we should fill for the fruit intake we had scheduled. So far, so normal for a mid-harvest day, except that since our morning 7 am meeting onwards, it had seemed that we were all expecting the coronavirus issue to get worse. 

For New Zealand, we were at Alert Level 2, which meant – in real terms – carry on as normal but with some isolating practices in place. At a large contract winery, in the middle of harvest, with a large winemaking, laboratory, cellar and management team, and the myriad shared surfaces that we all use – fittings, hoses, equipment, pump, press and forklift controls, multiple door handles in a winery occupying a couple of square kilometres – trying to put isolation practices in place had already been difficult. Even so, there was just a creeping sense that everything was going to deteriorate.

Then an emergency health and safety meeting was called mid morning. The decision was made that we had to prepare for an emergency shut down – the New Zealand wine industry was not classed as an essential business. We made a list of what we thought we could achieve if we had to shut down, and then carried on. And then...

My winemaker colleague who shares an office with me and the winery engineer (a decidedly non-social distancing workspace affectionately known as The Goldfish Bowl) flicked onto the Stuff homepage (New Zealand’s news website). The country was now at Alert Level 3 and moving to Alert Level 4 in 48 hours – meaning that the winery, as a non-essential business, would have to close at midnight on Thursday. The plan we had discussed to shut down swung into action.

That sounds calm. It was – kind of. Trying to operate a winery of this size mid harvest is a challenge for any winemaking and cellar team. We’re a very experienced crew here – I’m the least experienced of the winemaking team – but as a team we can probably count more than a double-century of harvests between us. All that said, how can we walk away from fermentations in tanks where from ground level you can barely see their tops? How can we make sure all our staff are safe – and what happens to their employment? How do we control barrel ferments that are spitting out bungs in absentia? How do the staff of the laboratory – one of New Zealand’s busiest wine labs – walk away from monitoring 400-odd batches of fermenting juice and wine? And what exactly are we going to do with the fruit that keeps rolling in on trucks? What about the CO2 risk if we walk away from the buildings? We can hardly start a ferment if no one can look after it. Yet we can’t ignore winemaking clients’ precious cargoes of fruit either. 

We had a list of which reds and skin-contact whites could be pressed off immediately and got to it. Plans were made for sulphuring down barrels and wines that had reached a stage where we could stabilise them. Lists of barrels that needed topping before shutdown were started on. Checks on lids, gas blanketing, tank seals were scheduled ... and the calls for harvest work kept coming. 

Corny as it sounds to talk about a grapevine, everyone in the country had heard the news so, right on cue, the phone reception got worse (all of New Zealand was on the phone) as clients called for immediate requests to complete work on their wines, or immediate requests to bring in fruit before we closed down. I was caught in the middle of this, as I schedule the harvest for the winery. 

On the one hand, making wine for clients is how we make money as a winemaking business; on the other hand, we can’t process fruit if we don’t have an operational winery. Most of us were of the opinion that we should concentrate on the wines and juice already here – don’t add to the problem. Others were of the opinion that we need a full winery when we inevitably re-open to help generate revenue – we charge our winemaking costs by the litre, so we need to have litres of wine in the winery. There’s no right or wrong answer, but what we needed was certainty – were we going to shut down or not?

The problem was taken out of our hands by an announcement by New Zealand Wine Growers, who were lobbying the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) to reclassify the wine production industry as an essential business. They were meeting with MPI at 5.30 pm. And so we went into limbo. Should we carry on with shutdown work? Should we carry on with receiving more fruit? Who knew? We needed to know the answer from MPI. 

Of course, the afternoon saw some of our most unexpected extra tonnes of fruit arrive too: one hectare of Merlot, estimated at 14 tonnes/hectare, somehow produced 25.08 tonnes. We’ve known it’s been a heavy Merlot crop in Hawke’s Bay this year, but that’s a Godzilla-size yield: 190.99 hl/ha for the European MW students out there. This fruit is going to make rosé; even with that ginormous yield it produced perfect numbers for making rosé. The sadness of the coronavirus situation is that it may negatively impact what has been looking like a very exciting harvest for Hawke’s Bay.

Needless to say we were all checking phones and websites as it moved past 5.30 pm. My wife beat us all to it and texted through a message she’d received from a winemaking friend in Marlborough who was also hanging on his phone – MPI had classified the wine industry as a primary industry. We collectively breathed a sigh of relief, tinged with trepidation at what comes next. We know that as an essential business we can stay open, but we’re waiting to hear about the regulations from MPI that we really need to adhere to in order to remain open. 

All of this may sound pretty similar to the challenges that other businesses around the world are facing, and we certainly know how truly fortunate we still are to have daily jobs to go to. This added pressure during harvest, however, has lent a unique flavour to this year’s fun and games. 

A demanding routine

Let me describe what a normal harvest here is like for me personally. I start at about 6.45 am in the morning. I may finish by ... who knows? This year, I beat my personal record by starting at 6.30 am and finishing at 1.30 am the following morning. I may get four hours of sleep a night; we all eat whatever we can; we all run out of laundry or wear yesterday’s clothes again; I survive off cups of tea, when or if I can make them; I can walk, climb, or run well over ten miles a day during harvest; we lift enormously heavy equipment; or carry enormous quantities of equipment; our boots are wet; our hands get cut up by stainless steel; when or if we get time off, the sleep deprivation makes you feel as if you have the severest jetlag; and it just keeps coming. 

As a contract winery, we work to the behest of our clients. In reality, we have little control over the amount or quality or timing of fruit they decide to harvest. It’s our job to make the best wine we can from whatever we receive at whichever time of day or night (of course we work 24 hours a day during harvest) and there is no forgiveness if we make mistakes. That’s understandable, as clients are trusting us to provide a service, but that lends an added pressure to winemaking here. I’ve often heard contract wineries or custom-crush wineries being dismissed on quality standards by other wine industry contacts. That notion is so wrong, it’s laughable. Contract wineries are the sharp end of winemaking, plain and simple. 

So, imagine that background within the new landscape of coronavirus – pressure, added on pressure, added on pressure. We are simply fearful of what the future holds, yet unable to look beyond the everyday harvest operations here. Harvest has a life of its own and it stops for nothing, not even a deadly virus. On the face of it, aside from the isolating and sterilisation regimes we have in place, we’re all carrying as normal. Forklifts are buzzing around, more trucks of fruit are rolling through the gates, presses are being filled with fruit, juice is being floated and lees are being filtered. We’re laughing and smiling and working as a team as we always do. 

We desperately want the harvest this year to succeed. We’ve had a really challenging drought this year, leading to some vineyards having some pretty stressed vines and fruit, with low sugars and plummeting acids. Above is a Pinot Noir vineyard in the Maraekakaho subregion. We had hail in October that wiped out some of the early-budding varieties in the Bridge Pa subregion particularly. Yields haven’t been uniformly high across Hawke’s Bay because of the patchwork of soil types and water availability here. And we’re all doing our usual thing of checking several weather forecasts per day to see what the weather gods have stored up for us – there’s no such thing as a truly dry harvest in New Zealand, but none of us want to cope with compromised fruit riddled with rain-induced botrytis. 

Luckily, we seem to be on track for a settled harvest so far, with gremlins having been confined to some spotty yields, some drought-affected fruit, and the EU pitching in with some challenging last-minute changes to permitted winemaking practices. We’re just starting to get to the red fruit arriving for serious red wines and we could be on course for having a cracker of a season. If we’re allowed to finish it.

So, we carry on. Every day has its moments now. After the rollercoaster of yesterday and not knowing if we were shutting or closing, it seems like a normal day on the surface – except that our lab is closed to visitors and one of our cellar hands has brought in many different tubs of gelato from the gelato shop that his wife runs on the Napier seafront (very sadly, they have had to shut as a non-essential business, but the gelato was already made). We’re all eating gelato for breakfast and waiting for some more trucks of Sauvignon Blanc to arrive – the new normal. For the time being.

by: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/2020-nzs-cliffhanger-vintage