2015: the dawn of a great vintage…
Located on the 45th parallel, the northern limit for the world's great red wine regions, Bordeaux likes sunny summers to produce great vintages. The months of May, June, and July 2015 were among the hottest and driest on record. Water stress, so important for stopping vegetative growth and starting the ripening process, took place early, in July, and brought on a magnificent véraison (colour change) in early August. I have not seen such an early, even véraison since 2009. All our grapes were red by the 15th of August and many of them were already deeply-‐colored.
Fortunately, the month of August was less hot and more wet, which gave a certain vigor to the vines.
Dry white wines
This month of August enabled the grapes, especially the white wine grapes, to "breathe" and retain their freshness. The first grapes were picked at the end August. Their juices were superb and the weather forecast for the next two weeks is looking excellent... We are thus quite confident this will be a great year!!!
Red wines
The Merlot grapes will be harvested the last ten days of September and the Cabernets the first two weeks of October. These are showing magnificent potential, but we still need six weeks without a major disturbance.
Sweet white wines
The Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes are slowly reaching perfect ripeness. As with every vintage, botrytis will call all the shots, but the conditions conducive to its development are all there.
It has been several years since Bordeaux has seen the dawn of such a beautiful vintage...
There are still a few weeks of suspense left before this promise is fulfilled.
Olivier Bernard
President
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux
10 Cours du 30 Juillet – 33000
Bordeaux–France
Tel:0556519191
Fax:0556516412
contact@ugcb.net
