California fires caused a lot of distress at a human level, people losing homes etc. That’s how its different.
Im sorry i find humour in almost every situation but im not going to feel bad about some grapes getting frost bite, nobody died or had homes destroyed. OK maybe some Burgundians dont have millions of dollars worth of wine to sell but blow me if im going to treat that as a human tragedy
Alan, I often feel people around here give you grief you don’t deserve. In this case, you deserve every ounce of it, you’re being a total ass. And I’m sorry we have the same name to confuse people in a thread like this.
Alan
Nobody will ever confuse me with liking Burgundy.
I dont wish Burgundy any ill will, just not crying for them
Alan
Seems that if you are lacking an empathy gene you should make up for it with some good taste, class, dignity or the very least discretion and simply say nothing. Whether or not this rises to a level that you find worthy of your ability to show some basic human kindness you should at least be man enough to understand that people have lost and it’s best to simply shut your yap if what is going to come out is bile and bluster.
Sorry Alan–that is totally ignorant. Many domaines in Burgundy are simple farmers, not millionaires.
And Mr. Lee, your attempt at levity was poorly timed and fell far short of the target.
I wish people would just stay on the topic at hand - what’s going on with frost and other issues in Burgundy this year. For those of us who care about the region, its people, its products, and its health as a community this is information we’d love to get, and is hard to find any other way than through the Internet.
(Liberal use of the ignore feature is helping me here, as it does in many threads, but sadly that feature doesn’t extend to postings copied in replies. Add that as a feature please!)
Then why post in this thread?
+1 big time.
I know growers in Burgundy who drive Mercedes and growers who drive Clios. If either of them lose their harvest to frost, it hurts, economically and emotionally. If you own a vineyard (I do), you are invested in every sense, even if you live 5000 miles away (I do).
Dan Kravitz
I think I’d better make it clear that I do agree with Alan when it comes to top producers with huge amounts of top Cote d’Or vineyards. They’ll be ok losing some grapes.
On the other hand I do feel for, for example, a small grower with a few rows in Mercurey who lives from hand to mouth.
Of course people who drink top wines and have met the winemaker and feel some connection will obviously feel empathy with them. I understand that. But there are so many people suffering in this world who deserve my empathy more than Aubert de Villaine and co IMO.
My advice to you would be the same as it is to Alan. There is dignity in silence at times and it is best to be aware of those times. If something doesn’t rise to your level of empathy because apparently you only have so much of it to go around, then fine. You’re not required to have sympathy for everyone. But going out of your way to point out that you don’t have sympathy for folks because of their station in life and because you consider their business or industry to be “incestuous” (you might want to either look that up or at least reconsider the use of it) simply lacks class, grace and dignity.
And it’s not like these folks, rich or not-so-rich, are the only ones who have skin in the game. Maintenance workers, vineyard staff, barrel producers. Labs that won’t have any wines to analyze. Restaurants that have less wine to sell, and less people to buy the wine.
Or, just be a narrow-minded dick.
The change in conditions for farmer everywhere (I just read an article in the NYT about farmers in Mexico fleeing climate change) is sad and a human tragedy.
In Norway last year thousands of milk cows were slaughtered as a result of extreme drought that in turn led to lack of grass for the cattle to feed on. Compensations were record high (paid recently), but the long term effects will lead some farmers unable to continue to make a living.
Those are just examples and I believe we will see more and more problems linked to climate change. In Burgundy I wonder if the time for tiny domaines might be over as it’s too risky to bet on a few hectares in Côte d’Or when the losses they’ve experienced since 2010 have been this frequent and severe. Unfortunately some might have to give up as they lack the financial means to diversify.
Has anyone heard how vintners fared in Chinon and Bourgueil? Or Saumur? Was there frost damage there?
Here’s what happens after the frost. If you don’t manually break off the damaged shoots which in CA we don’t, the vines will take a bit of time and push secondary shoots. These will have MUCH less fruit or not at all. It’s the vines trigger to survive. They will also push other shoots and suckers from all over.
This delayed growth keeps the vine alive but shoot positioning must take place to find shoots for the next year. Then you still have to spray. You can’t allow mildew and other fungus to get in the wood.
Long story short you still have to carry out most all vineyard tasks knowing your not going to get a paycheck. If a crop does set most likely it will be so delayed it may not ripen. I know as I’ve had a couple of seasons like that.
Bravo bravo to Jim’s comments…spoken with class and dignity.
+1
This is likely to put many families out of business. A decade ago, I went to the funeral of a vigneron in Entre deux Mers who committed suicide, because after ten generations, he was losing the estate, and he could not live with the idea of bankruptcy. Many there were mortgaged up to the hilt and certainly could not afford insurance.
In the intervening years, things have only gotten worse for the third tier winemakers, and something as catastrophic as this, will almost certainly end in more bankruptcies. I cannot imagine how they are coping, but I doubt anybody is laughing.
Is anybody able to give information about the situation? Did frost actually destroy vineyards in Burgundy or elsewhere in France so far? And if so to what extend?
I just came on these photos on Twitter from April 13-14.
As far as Burgundy is concerned, and based on only a few conversations, it seems that there was heavy damage in the southern Mâconnais, damage to the tune of 0-30% in the Côte de Beaune, and not much in Côte de Nuits or Chablis. But the effects are very localized and it’s still a little early to say.