A harvest that lasts in Beaujolais

A harvest that lasts in Beaujolais

On the hillsides of Beaujeu, the grape harvest is not expected to be completed for another ten days. Having started shortly after August 20th in the early-ripening areas, the 2007 harvest promises to be a historically long one.

A cool breeze caresses the hillside. Further down in the valley, Beaujeu stretches out below, with views extending beyond Mont Brouilly. Clinging to the slope, about thirty grape-pickers are hard at work.

Winemakers Daniel Bulliat and Jean-Luc Ducruix are joining forces for the harvest. They have about thirty hectares to pick in a campaign that will last sixteen days. “We are pooling our resources, for instance, by using a single team for our respective vineyards. The pace has been very good so far, thanks in large part to the mild weather. We should finish harvesting around September 23rd,” says Daniel Bulliat, who is also the president of the Beaujolais-Villages appellation. He made the choice to wait for the grapes to reach optimal maturity. “It wasn’t a sure thing, but with the beautiful weather of the last few days, the health of the crop is good, and the alcohol content is soaring. Today, I really don’t regret this choice,” the winemaker confesses. “Every day that passes without rain increases the wine’s potential quality. The coolness and sunshine mean we can harvest without stress and take our time,” he adds.

This is all good for quality, as the late-ripening zones are benefiting from the late return of favorable weather conditions, whereas the hopes of the early-ripening sectors were dashed by disastrous weather in early August.

And the campaign is stretching out over time, promising to be exceptionally long, given that the first snips of the shears were made shortly after August 20th. “In a late year, the campaign is often long. But for an early year like 2007, this is a unique case,” Daniel Bulliat believes. He adds: “We are truly facing an atypical year. But it makes sense considering the flowering period, which was also very spread out over time.”

Will nature’s whims be reflected in the bottle? “It won’t be like 2005, where the vintage was very homogeneous regardless of the area,” Daniel Bulliat simply states. 2007 is shaping up to be a vintage of heterogeneous quality.