Last month we pictured the goats in front of the château, so it seems only fair that we should show them near the vines under the glorious winter sky last week. We promise not to have them headlining in every photo journal this year but they are rather lovely.
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As we herald in 2023, we take a customary look back at the year in the vineyard. Putting this photo journal together in the last couple of days reminds us just how quickly the seasons merge and turn full circle. And that times with all the family together are moments to be cherished.
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Another last-day-of-the-month missive and a photo journal for November.
Before that, well done England and the USA, commiserations to Wales, and the days of four games a day of World Cup football on BBC and ITV, one after another, have come to an end. England’s opponents in the quarter final on Saturday 10 December, if they prevail over Senegal – if – this Sunday in the last 16, will more than likely be France or the runners-up of Group C (currently Argentina, but we’ll know tonight). Crikey.
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Here’s our monthly review. Well, not exactly a recap of what’s happened this month (where to even begin?) but we finally packaged up our sparkling 2019 Crémant de Bordeaux and shipped it to various staging posts before onward delivery to our customers’ homes.
Crikey, the 2019 harvest seems a while ago – though fresh in the memory – so we thought we’d put together a photo journal of the wine. There is quite a story behind it.
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What a momentous September. And we had a harvest to bring in.
We’ve sent out a news review or photo journal at the end of every month for many years but we can’t recall another month of events back home quite like this one. The travails in the vineyard rather pale into insignificance but the grapes are now all in and the wine fermenting away.
Time has slipped by since our August review, when we’d just started the white harvest, and it ended yesterday with the last of the Cabernets. Many thanks to everyone who kindly sent us a note about Margaux, our beloved terrier.
Here is a photo journal of the bringing in of the crop, designed for speed scrolling.
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We started our harvest yesterday. It’s obviously a fairly early one, what with all the heat and the drought for most of the summer, but more on that another time.
Instead, this end of August missive is dedicated to Margaux, our much-loved terrier, who sadly died just short of her fifteenth harvest. She died peacefully at home having braved a heart condition for many months. It is very sad, of course, but she had a really good life and we are blessed to have had her, and she didn’t suffer at the end. She gave so much pleasure to so many people, and she was loved by so many in return.
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Well, we all know it’s been hot in July.
Last month we wrote about the hail storms that ripped through vineyards not too far from us on 20 June, following on from the 40+˚C heatwave the weekend before. If you missed that thrilling email, part one of the June review was here, with the hail photo journal here.
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Welcome to the second part of this month’s newsletter. If you missed the June photo journal, you can find it by clicking this link.
This photo journal focuses on the hailstorms in the Bordeaux region on the evening of Monday, 20 June, as it merits a separate piece from the comings and goings at Château Bauduc. The impact of hail on vineyards is almost always localised, and the damage variable from one small area to the next. As we know ourselves from May 2009 and August 2013, sometimes your luck just isn’t in. This time we were more fortunate but you always feel for those that have been hit.
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We’re half way through the year already. Crikey. And half way through the growing season in the vineyard too, though we never know what could be just around the corner.
There were hail storms at the start of last week that ravaged some (really unlucky) vineyards in Bordeaux. Look out for what is effectively Part II of our June review to follow in the next day or so – ‘the Bordeaux hail trail’.
Before that, here’s a photo journal of a few of the things that have been happening at Bauduc this month.
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A successful, early flowering in the vineyard is almost a cause for celebration in itself. We’ve had lovely weather at Bauduc, with the only fly in the ointment being a potential drought. (As you know, farmers are rarely happy.)
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