The summer holidays have arrived. Or rather, all four children have, as of later today when Bugs flies in from Montreal. We’re among the lucky ones: Georgie flew in this week from London and her ladyship (granny) is here for what appears to be a six-week stint. Though you never can tell with travel to and from the UK these days.
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It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through 2021. June is a hectic month in the vineyard (no, really) and we’ll try and give you a flavour of that with a photo journal below.
In this missive:
Much work to do in the vineyard this month and tastings at some of the leading châteaux for the 2020 Bordeaux ‘en primeur’ assessment, with a semi-journalistic, critical hat on.
In this missive:
There have been some devastating frosts across France this week, in Bordeaux, Burgundy and beyond. Here’s a photo journal of what’s been happening at Château Bauduc, preceded by a look at some of the preparations being made nearby in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion at the start of the week, as of Easter Monday. I’ll be taking a look at the damage across Bordeaux in the near future – it’s significant, I’m afraid – but here is an update from our home patch.
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Phew, it’s a scorcher here too, and it’s only the end of March. Record temperatures were felt across France yesterday afternoon, including on the coast here at Cap Ferret apparently, which is a tempting thought. An average max of 23.6ºC across France is the highest since at least 1947. The previous record was 23.2ºC on 30 March 2017 – but within a month much of the Bordeaux vineyard was devastated by one morning’s biting frost, so you never can tell. (And it looks to be pretty chilly one morning here next week.)
Spring has arrived with a bang, and the buds are breaking out from the branches of the vines. We’re almost ready for another full-on growing season and as there won’t be many visitors for a while just yet, we thought we’d bring the vineyard to you with a somewhat lengthy photo journal. We haven’t posted one since February and our ‘bottling of our 2020s’, and one just before that of the vineyard at the end of January, so there’s a fair bit to cover.
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We’re lucky to live here in so many ways but the sight and the sound this week of the migrating grues*, or cranes, flying up from the south is a glorious reminder that winter is almost behind us and that spring awaits.
It signals too that we need to crack on with the last of the pruning – as Nelly’s doing, above, working beyond the 6pm curfew here – and the pulling out of last year’s branches, in readiness for the growing season ahead.
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We thought you’d enjoy a photo journal of our new vintages being bottled, and the start of the trip for some UK-bound stock – in the nick of time.
We’ll no doubt be keeping a beady eye on the Calais-Dover route as things develop.
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Dear John
And now for some good news. We’ll be releasing the new vintages of our whites, reds, sparkling and rosé on Friday 5th February, with keen prices and UK delivery within a few working days from our London warehouse.
These include our 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, 2020 Les Trois Hectares blanc and our 2020 Rosé. All fresh off the bottling line at the château but now thoroughly rested and ready to roll. Bottled last summer and fit to burst out of the blocks as well are our red Bordeaux Supérieur and Les Trois Hectares rouge 2018. Young and bright, and both delicious already – really. Also from 2018, our bubbly Crémant de Bordeaux.
We’ll let you know how we escaped the shackles of the post-Brexit channel crossing shortly, even if it is only a brief reprieve.
For those looking for availability outside the UK, do get in touch
All the best
Gavin and Angela
What a year it’s been, and we’re not finished yet.
Here at Chateau Fawlty we’ve had a busy month in the vineyard and on the winemaking side, and our ever faithful customers have kept us on our toes.
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This week’s photo journal is part Throwback Thursday, part Black Friday offer.
We sold out of our popular 2014 red in the UK over a year ago, though we still had some stock in our Calais depot. It may not surprise you that collections from there have been a little slow in 2020.
So we’ve shipped the last of the 2014 Merlot Cabernet over to London City Bond, paying UK duty in the process, and are keeping it to the same price as its launch price in early 2016, while stocks last.
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