Anson: Bordeaux 2020 harvest – An insider guide

The Bordeaux 2020 harvest and growing season are an exercise in perspective.

We saw a rainy early season, intense summer drought, heat spikes in early September and late rains during harvest. All of this would have been challenging enough without also contending with Covid-19 related special measures, such as:

• lockdown during the early part of the season
• new sanitary protocols once everything opened back up again
• new harvest teams to retrain when the usual ones were not able to make it
• new ways of making harvesters feel welcome when the huge shared lunches and suppers were no longer possible

And through it all the constant feeling of gratitude that the vines continued unperturbed by wider upheaval, and that come harvest time grapes were arriving to the cellars ripe, healthy and (relatively) abundant.

All the same, Bordeaux’s rainy finish, with up to 100mm falling in some areas over a few days, made the end of the 2020 harvest more rushed than expected after months of sunshine and temperatures that, in early September, climbed up to 35°C even 40°C on some days.

‘A great vintage is where everyone succeeds, and it is hard to speak about 2020 in those terms,’ says Pascal Chatonnet, consultant and vineyard owner, echoing a sentiment that I have heard over and again while visiting estates and tasting through vat samples across the region.

It’s too early to give any definitive assessments of course, but what is certain is that whatever happens now 2020 is a vintage that nobody is going to forget. So let’s break down the season, and what likely impact it could have on the wines.

Key takeaways

• Warm, early year impacted by a rainy start and finish.
• Dry summer with almost zero rainfall in July, and water deficit across both July and August 60% lower than average.
• The vines were 15 days earlier than average at budding and flowering, down to 7 days earlier by the end of veraison and harvest.
• Yields around 20% lower than 2019.
• Early white harvest began mid-August.
• Much of the red harvest finished by the end of September.
• Sauternes and Barsac due to finish at the end of this week.

March/April

Overall, a mild winter saw bud break around 15 days earlier than usual. Spring had plenty of challenges, though, with hail, snow and strong bursts of rainfall at various times. Two periods of frost were recorded on 29 March and through to early April.

In the end the damage was localised, with most frost damage limited to parts of the Right Bank; the lower sectors of St-Laurent-des-Combes in St-Emilion for example.

At the time, Philippe Abadie of the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture confirmed that the deployment of an array of new anti-frost measures (many brought in since the devastation of 2017) were successful.

The situation was also helped because, in the end, the frost turned into snow – Emeline Borie at Grand-Puy-Lacoste noted that what would have been the start of the en primeur week in April was marked instead by snow falling in Pauillac.

Things cleared up quickly, and overall the month of April was the warmest since 1920. It was very dry in the first half but with more frequent rain for the rest of the month.

There were even a few storms, particularly on the 17th, with bursts of hail that affected certain parts of Entre-Deux-Mers around Grézillac, Branne and Créon, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, Sauternes and parts of St-Emilion and Puisseguin.

Overall, the April hailstorms were estimated to have impacted between 600ha and 800ha of vines, with the worst affected reporting up to 80% losses.

May/June

Early May was warm and sunny, although marked by frequent rain storms for the first 13 days, with localised flooding in some areas. Rainfall was uneven – up to 200mm around Moulis and Listrac, as well as in Barsac and Sauternes, compared to 20mm in Lalande de Pomerol and 40mm in Pomerol.

Temperatures, however, remained relatively warm, meaning that flowering was early, around 20 May, up to 15 days earlier than average (comparable to both 2003 and 2011), and generally good quality and even.

Fruit set was similarly helped by the stable temperatures and overall at this point yields looked healthy, although consultant Pascal Chatonnet reported that Cabernet Sauvignon was a little more affected by rain during fruit set than Merlot, which translated into reduced yields in parts of the Médoc.

Mildew pressure also became intense in May and particularly June after a rainy start to the month.

Things got more stable later in the month, and the mildew threat, which looked to be even worse than in 2018 in some areas, receded by late June as conditions became hotter and drier.

I was with Thomas Duroux at biodynamically-farmed Château Palmer in early June, tasting the 2019 vintage, and can well remember his anxiety levels – but in the end he is expecting yields of around 32hl/ha, mainly due to the heat spikes of early September rather than mildew in May.

Gonzague Lurton, at Château Durfort-Vivens, also farming organically and biodynamically, commented at the time that in many ways he was better protected than colleagues farming conventionally, because he had learnt from the experience of mildew in 2018.

Similarly, Pascal Chatonnet said his organic plots at Vignobles Chatonnet fared the best, because his team were out there treating the vines more frequently.

July/August

It was the driest summer since 1959, with temperatures in July showing 24 days about 25°C and 12 of those topping 30°C.

There were 316 hours of sunshine in July, 30% up on the average of 249, plus just 3mm of rain compared to an average of 50mm.

As with flowering, colour change in the grapes (veraison) was early, with the very first reddening happening mid-July.

Chatonnet, who consults at Château d’Isssan, reported seeing Cabernet Sauvignon in Margaux beginning colour change on 7 July, the earliest he had seen, and a week earlier than his Merlot in Lalande-de-Pomerol.

Things got so warm and dry that certain terroirs saw blocked ripening, meaning that the advance in the early season slowed down.

As a result, veraison that typically lasts eight to 12 days took up to three weeks or more. Château Jean Faure in St-Emilion told me full colour change took five weeks in total. There were marked differences across terroirs, pushing the expected harvest date back by one week.

This is really where soils and local micro-climates will have come into play. Parts of Pomerol with sandy loam soils suffered in the drought, for example. Clay and limestone soils fared much better, as did gravel areas that are underpinned by clay, as is typical in appellations such as St-Estèphe, Pauillac and St-Julien.

There has also been success reported by several estates who sprayed their grapes with clay during the hottest parts of August to protect the skins.

August was similarly hot and dry in the early parts, right up to 39.6°C recorded at Mérignac on 7 August, a temperature that climbed to more than 40°C in parts of St-Emilion and Pomerol.

Some rain fell in mid-month. There were 67mm over the course of the month, 19% higher than average, largely due to a rainy spell of up to 55mm from 11 to 15 August – although St-Julien reported another heavy rain spell at the end of the month.

Parts of Entre-Deux-Mers lost up to 30% of the crop after a mid-month hail storm around the commune of Baurech.

Overall, sunshine in August was very close to normal, with 233 hours, and the water deficit across both July and August came in at under 60% lower than average, according to consultant Pascal Hénot of Enosens.

The first white grapes were brought in around 15 August, particularly on the grapes intended for Crémant, and the Sauvignon Gris and Blanc on the earliest ripening terroirs. By the end of August, Merlot intended for rosé was also coming into the cellars.

Things were strikingly early at this point – Gerard Perse’s Monbousquet in St-Emilion, for example, brought its first white grapes in at the end of August, a full 15 days earlier than in 2019. His Merlot harvest at Château Pavie began on 21 September, nine days earlier than in 2019.

Autumn – September/October

Harvest preparations were relatively relaxed, despite having to take into account new protocols to keep teams apart, because the weather at the end of August and into early September stayed fine and hot.

The first 15 days of September saw heat spikes that caused significant yield losses in some cases, particularly as the nights also remained relatively warm.

The earliest red grapes in the Médoc were picked on the week of 7 September, with harvest becoming widespread by 14th.

At this point the heat was extreme, and that made it essential to monitor temperatures and cool grapes down as soon as they hit the cellars.

Potential alcohols were also high in these early lots, particularly for younger vines. Potential alcohol was up to 16%abv in some cases, according to consultant Antoine Medeville.

Azote (nitrogen) levels dropped low as a result, so estates had to be vigilant to ensure yeasts had sufficient nutrition to successfully start fermentation. Overall, however, the quality of the Merlot seems extremely positive.

Cabernet Sauvignons began to be brought in on the week of 21 September, by which time Autumn had very definitely arrived.

Most red harvests had finished up on both Left and Right Bank by the end of September, particularly after forecasts suggested up to 100mm of rain coming in over one weekend. In the end, most people got away with 60mm.

The Mérignac weather station recorded just 9% more rainfall than average in September, with a final count of just over 90mm and with a little more rain falling in the Médoc than on the Right Bank. Pessac-Léognan remained relatively dry.

The early season will definitely have helped here in ensuring sufficient maturity in the grapes.

Edouard Moueix at Ets JP Moueix reported finishing all picking in one week, the quickest ever, with the last few days ‘speeded up by the threat of rain’.

The last grapes at Léoville Las Cases in St-Julien were brought in on 29 September, with potential alcohols of between 13.5 – 13.8%abv.

Sauternes and Barsac began harvesting the first berries the week of 7 September, with far more joining on the week of 13 September, but at this point the picking comprised essentially passerillage (so naturally shrivelled grapes) due to the drought. Although healthy, these grapes are likely to comprise mainly the second wines.

The night of Friday 18 September and through Saturday saw around 5mm of rainfall, which helped to unlock the botrytis for harvesting over the week of 21st. Further rain held up pickings, however, with most estates bringing in another round on 28 September.

By this point around two-thirds of the grapes had been picked, but early rains again in October have meant another period of waiting. Drier conditions returned from 9 October and things are expected to be finished over the weekend of 17/18 October.

‘Patience, patience, patience’, is how Vincent Labergère, of Château Rayne Vigneau, described the sweet wine harvest to a local newspaper.

Yield

Yields are expected to be a little below average, largely because of mildew early in the season and the heat spikes of early September leading to small concentrated berries. David Pernet, of Sovivins, estimates that overall the Bordeaux yield will come in 20% below average.

As ever, the picture varies across the region.

Claude Godin, president of Médoc/Haut-Médoc/Listrac, reported that the heat meant a concentration and subsequent loss of yields of around 20-30%, with final volumes to be between 30hl and 40hl depending on the estate.

Philibert Perrin, president of Pessac-Léognan, expects around 25% lower yields than average, particularly with the red wines, with Jean-Christophe Mau at Château Brown suggesting his white harvest should come in at around 38hl/ha, compared to 48hl/ha in 2019.

These are similar to projected figures from Mayeul l’Huillier at the Graves wine syndicate, although it ascribed some low yields to the hailstorms of April.

Jean-Jacques Dubourdieu, in Sauternes, expects yields to be somewhere between 40% and 70% less than average, but as ever this will vary widely between properties.

Over in St-Emilion and Pomerol, yields seem to vary depending on the sector. La Dominique expects between 35 – 40hl/ha, a little under last year’s 43hl/ha, with Jean Faure closer to 42hl/ha.

Also worth noting that AOC Bordeaux/Bordeaux Supérieur have set their maximum yields lower than usual this year to deal with issues of supply and demand – down to 50hl/ha instead of 54hl/ha for AOC Bordeaux.

The ODG (Organisme de Defense et Gestion) of AOC Bordeaux/Bordeaux Supérieur is also allowing the declassification of 10% of its red wine production into IGP (Vins de Pays) to further relieve the strain of unsold stocks of wine.

Ann-Cécile Delavallade, head of the economic service at the Bordeaux Wine Bureau, estimated that unsold stocks had reached 2.2 million hectolitres for the 2019- 2020 campaign (a rise of 21% in one year), and for Bordeaux Supérieur 1.05 million hectolitres (a rise of 14%).

Style

What does all of this mean for style?

I have tasted through a number of samples from barrel or vats. Those on sandy soils have shown some green notes with underripe tannins, but overall early tastings are full of bright fruits and show great potential.

Across the region skins are thick, with plenty of colour and high levels of tannins – in some cases a little rustic due to the final rains. This means extraction needs to be carefully handled in the cellar.

Edouard Moueix found Petit Verdot was most affected by the drought earlier in the summer, so you are likely to find less of that grape in the blends of the Moueix wines in 2020.

He also reported that the press wine will be used extremely sparingly if at all, because the high tannins upset the balance of the wines in their early tastings.

Antoine Gimbert, at Las Cases, reported similarly powerful tannins that meant they were likely to use less press wine in some cases, ‘but on other plots the press is perfect, so it really is a case of almost following things bunch by bunch’.

Pascal Chatonnet echoes many when he says it is a ‘technical, winemaker’s vintage’, but one where the complexity of Bordeaux’s soil types will show their strength.

‘Small estates on one type of soil may have had difficulties if unlucky, but most big estates in Bordeaux have several soil types, and so are better protected,’ he says.

David Pernet, of Sovivins, is similarly optimistic as to quality, ‘It’s a great vintage with a lot of tannic structure in the Merlot as well as in the Cabernets. Even if the vintage was early with a sunny summer, the flavours remain pretty fresh.

‘[There is a] lot of ripeness but also freshness, especially in the Cabernets. Merlot on limestone on the Right Bank has kept a very good balance, some tension, lots of tannins but elegant in character (closer to 2016 than 2015 I find, with a little more concentration than in 2016, probably because of the lower yield this year)’.

… and Covid

The impact of Covid-19 undoubtedly affected the 2020 season, mainly in terms of manpower. Many estates who usually harvest half by hand and half by machine have done all by machine because of the difficulties in getting sufficient pickers. Others simply had to rearrange things by splitting into smaller groups.

Damien Barton, at Léoville Barton, says, ‘2020 will be the first year ever that we don’t host harvest lunches at Léoville Barton. Instead, it’s like having the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. In a normal year we have our own pickers who live locally. Many have been coming every September for the past decade or more. Everyone knows each other, and we start the day with a morning coffee, then head out to the vines, have a break mid-morning, then lunch all together, then back out, stopping for one more break before heading home.

‘This year we are using external teams run by contractors who can ensure effective protections of workers, and have employed one person whose entire job is ensuring the right people disinfect their hands at the right time!’.

Over on the Right Bank, at Canon and Berliquet, and for the Moueix family in Pomerol, smaller vineyard surfaces meant they were able to work with their usual picking teams, but protocols still applied that meant the usual convivial harvest lunches were not possible, or only in much reduced form with social distancing rigorously applied.

‘And yet we still had the daily barbeques,’ says Edouard Moueix, ‘with food cooked over vine sarments. And there is still the feeling of satisfaction once all the grapes have been safely brought in to the cellar.’

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