It is a historic record. The harvest began on Wednesday in certain vines in southern Burgundy, at Domaine Fichet. The date of August 12 is the earliest ever recorded for this vineyard, breaking the record set during the heatwave of 2003, which saw the harvest begin on August 17. The Fichet estate is not the first to have harvested: the first grapes were picked in Occitanie at the end of July, in Aude and Hérault at the very beginning of August, but this remains remarkable for a Burgundy.
An unprecedented harvest
"We've never seen that, both at the estate and in Burgundy I think. It feels like the south of France, and again! It's really a year to be remembered and why not even write it down on the bottles, "says Olivier Fichet at the microphone of Europe 1. From the family farm, he remembers the October harvest, some twenty years ago. Even in 2019, September 10 to take out the secateurs, it was already early.
This year, he expected to harvest between August 18 and 20, but the last heat has precipitated everything. “Monday morning, I went around the vines, I noticed that the grapes had withered. We rushed on Monday and Tuesday to set up our equipment,” explains the winemaker. Especially since it is complicated to call back staff during these holidays.
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Grape varieties threatened by repeated hot weather
Every day counts: in the heat, the grapes lose their juice, they concentrate in sugar and alcohol. "I think we're going to make a great vintage, the start is off to a good start with the quality, but it's not a very natural thing that we would like to have every year", explains Olivier Fichet. "In Burgundy, we have grape varieties like Pinot Noir which do not tolerate extreme heat. I think that if it continues too long, they risk disappearing little by little." On the hectares already harvested in the emergency, Olivier Fichet estimates that he has lost 40% of his production.