Bordeaux 2018 vintage – ‘les cinqs’ (5 essential conditions for a good vintage)

by CloMlr

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2019-04-08

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To compare with the 2016 vintage in Bordeaux visit our post 2016 vintage conditions

Looking over the weather stats for the Bordeaux 2018 vintage one is struck by several positive features and, unfortunately, a couple which are likely to cause some difficulties for winemakers. There are certain key weather conditions which the vine needs to perform well. Bearing in mind, always, that generic weather data does not focus on an individual terroir and the way it might cope with the weather nor does it reveal winemakers’ attitudes and decisions.

Bearing in mind the chart above, there are 5 essential conditions for a good vintage:

1. A calm, warm and relatively dry period in the Spring to permit healthy flowering and

2. similar conditions for fruit set a little later;

3. Gradual introduction of dry summer conditions to induce hydric stress no later than veraison (when the grapes change colour)

4. Warm weather for even maturation with adequately dry (but not too dry) conditions in August and September, and

5. Optimum harvest conditions in September and October without rain.

Looking at the chart above one can see that many of these conditions appear to have been met except that although cumulative precipitation was beneficial in the first few months, the wet conditions in June and July plus the warm weather encouraged the onset of aggressive mildiou which provided very difficult conditions for many and particularly estates managed on biodynamic principles. It was an unusually sunny and dry summer fulfilling the criteria for a good vintage although a hail storm in late May affected a few properties in the Medoc. The resulting long period of hot and dry conditions might be referred to as a ‘drought’ – it hardly rained at all for 4 months. The year which had started late for vine development reversed itself and it became an ‘early’ vintage – a rare enough occurrence in Bordeaux.

Fabian Cobb

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Tags: #bdx18, Bordeaux, Bordeaux 2018, Bordeaux en primeur, Bordeaux wines, en primeur, fine wine, wine, winemaking,

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