Marcia's blog

2011 Harvest

October 13th 2011

The grapes are nearly all in for English vineyards with high expectations of quality, but a good vintage in this country is not necessarily reflected in other parts of Europe. It has been an unpredictable year at best, with an exceptionally warm spring fooling us all into thinking we were in for a long hot summer. Then July and August were appallingly cool and wet. So instead of an early harvest of ripe grapes, some growers returned to old habits and picked under-ripe to avoid rot. Any growers who could wait for the late September, early October heatwave will have had some welcome extra ripening days, but only those who were ruthless in sorting out the rotten and unevenly ripe grapes will have made good wine this year. Altogether a difficult and uneven harvest.

Bordeaux

Older entries:

• January 2nd 2012All change at MW2 Wines
• December 14th 2011Christmas Deliveries
• October 13th 20112011 Harvest
• August 31st 2011Rose wine
• January 13th 2011Sparkling wines
• October 12th 2010Autumn wines
• June 7th 2010Sparkling Wine afternoon at Claydon
• May 13th 2010Summer Wine Tasting
• April 22nd 2010Bordeaux 2009
• March 30th 20101st taste of 2009 Bordeaux