Hail in Rhone?

Stephane Ogier reports today on Facebook the hail storm was more bark than bite. He imagined the worst when a courtyard was covered with hailstones the size of a ball of unspecified size (at least according to Google translator), but the storm was mostly concentrated in Ampuis. Plots on the lower part of the Coteau had leaves and grapes marked, the rest is intact.
 
Coming at this time, hail would mainly affect the size of the crop. In the case of some Cte-Rtie producers who tend to overcrop, that could be a positive.
 
Well, I got ripped on the Squires board for posting the photograph of Leve's invitation to a tasting at Lafite-Rothschild taken off his Facebook page, but I suppose this is different. Here's the beginning of his Facebook post:
Grle : plus de peur que de mal la cour du domaine tait toute blanche de grlons de la taille dune bille, de quoi imaginer le pire
 
Himm, to my knowledge of French, bille can be either a marble or a billiard ball. I should imagine the former here. But Sharon's the one who translates for a living.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Steve, Rest assured that we'll rip you for different things here.
Click to expand...

Aye. If you could post a list of your greatest fears and insecurities that would help all concerned.

Cheers,

Dave
 
Hail is an amazingly localized phenomenon... I've seen bobal vineyards virtually destroyed 50 yards away from my syrah vineyard, while this vineyard was practically unscathed (thank goodness...). So Stphane could easily see marble-sized hailstones at his winery, which is in the heart of Ampuis village, and the Cte-Rtie vineyards, which lie more than a kilometer away, be left untouched.
 
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