Frost

[Jeff Grossman]

Here are a few pictures of vignerons setting fire to bales of hay, lighting smudgepots, etc., in an attempt to combat the killer frost that is currently wreaking havoc with the 2017 growing season.

 

[Brad Kane]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
FrostHere are a few pictures of vignerons setting fire to bales of hay, lighting smudgepots, etc., in an attempt to combat the killer frost that is currently wreaking havoc with the 2017 growing season.

I was wondering if anyone was going to post about this. Many of the wine regions we love in France Germany and Italy have been hit by devastating bouts with frost in April. Damage totals are slowly coming out, but it appears the Loire was once again hit extremely hard, especially Anjou. I've heard from a supplier that Closel has lost just about their entire crop this year and much of Savennieres is looking at 50% loss. The frost even extended as far South as the Languedoc.

I'm sure we're going to hear a lot more bad news from some of our favorite growers soon, unfortunately.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Your post buttons works, too, Brad.

 

[Sharon Bowman]

originally posted by Brad Kane:
France Germany and Italy

And here we are debating about the Oxford comma.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Brad Kane:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
FrostHere are a few pictures of vignerons setting fire to bales of hay, lighting smudgepots, etc., in an attempt to combat the killer frost that is currently wreaking havoc with the 2017 growing season.

I was wondering if anyone was going to post about this. Many of the wine regions we love in France Germany and Italy have been hit by devastating bouts with frost in April. Damage totals are slowly coming out, but it appears the Loire was once again hit extremely hard, especially Anjou. I've heard from a supplier that Closel has lost just about their entire crop this year and much of Savennieres is looking at 50% loss. The frost even extended as far South as the Languedoc.

I'm sure we're going to hear a lot more bad news from some of our favorite growers soon, unfortunately.

I'd be very interested to hear from growers (Brézème?) about modern frost protection in Europe. When I was working in Napa Valley in the 70s you'd still see smudge pots and fans but I don't think anyone uses them any longer as they were both polluting and pretty ineffective. Pretty much all you see is sprinklers now.

 

[georg lauer]

Wurttemberg was hit hard (and many other parts of Germany).
Depending on the grape v. losses between 50 and 100% expected. End of May we will hear more definitive assessments, hopefully a bit more positive.

 

[robert ames]

originally posted by Sharon Bowman:

originally posted by Brad Kane:
France Germany and Italy

And here we are debating about the Oxford comma.

when there's nothing to debate!

 

[Jeff Grossman]

The dismal reports keep piling up:
- Bordeaux ...in Decanter
- England ...in BBC
- Champagne (and Jura and Austria in the comments)...in Drinks Business
- Montlouis and Piedmont ...in Wine Spectator

And then there are the cheerful folks at Imbibe who suggest serving Bulgarian or Tasmanian wine rather than raise prices.

 

[georg lauer]

Update from Germany/Wuerttemberg: Two weeks later it seems that more buds survived than they had feared..... we will see what that will mean in the end, but it looks like it will not be the almost complete loss feared for some sites/grape v.

 

[maureen]

Denis Bachelet reports that the frost skipped his holdings.

 

[Chris Coad]

I'm switching all my money into Barossa Valley futures.

 

[kirk wallace]

...some say fire, some say ice....