15/10/2013 Harvest Report 2013

This year has been a little different. Spring was very late with floweringcoming three weeks after it normally does. This meant that the grapes would not be ripe at their usual time. However, summer brought great weather with sufficient rainfall to keep the vines happy. There was virtually no fungal disease and the damp weather meant that we had almost no insect problems. Which meant that we sprayed less than any other year.

Harvest started on the 5th September with Grenache Gris and blanc for La Terre Promise. A week later we picked Muscat for One Block but we didn't start harvesting red grapes unti the 24 September. Three weeks later than normal.

We had a little set-back when a fire burnt part of the Grenache block but fortunately the firemen put it out soon enough.

Our harvest team included Ruth from Guest Wines in Newcastle, Max and Caitlin at Alimentum restaurant in Cambridge, James who works for Majestic, Georgia from AgriSud in Montpellier and Will from Plumpton College. All were wonderfully fed by our old friend Jill from New York.

Our pickers were all locals, many from Trouillas itself. Great team.

I'm very happy with both the condition and flavour of the grapes. The Syrah and Mourvedre in particular have superb potential. However, it's also been a great year for the white wines which have great acidity and lower alcohol levels than previous years. So don't let comments about the harvest in other regions cloud your view of the Roussillon.