2012 At Luneau-Papin.

September 25th, 2012

Our harvest began on Monday, the 24th at 8 am. Last November, we began pruning in a winter where temperatures often fell below 0. In late January/early February, frost and snow (which is rather rare around these parts) kept the hand warmers in our pockets, and many chimney fires were burned! It was a perfect time to eat slow cooked rabbit and open some nice bottles from our vignerons friends.

Spring started early, too early according to "Mamy Jeannette" (Monique's mother, who knows the parcels like no other). But March and April quickly traded sun for rain and wind! This mediocre weather followed us into July, and as a result the vines' flowering -interrupted by constant rain- could not offer us all of its grapes.

By the end of July, the summer finally decided to show up. August was quite hot and since then warm temperatures and blue skies have been the norm. We're now getting fresh mornings, but the sky is still beautiful and the grapes love it… Us too!

The 5 weeks prior to harvest are primordial for nice maturities and richness in natural sugars. Now that we've started the harvest, we're in the thick of things and wait impatiently to taste the juices as they become wine! We're estimating alcohol to be at 12/12,5 minimum, and are waiting on certain parcels for optimal maturity. On Monday, 35 harvesters and 5 loaders were getting there hands full of grapes.

To sum up 2012, we're going to make something very good, but not in the quantities we would have liked. Be ready to cellar this vintage, since we brought in less that half of a usual harvest.

-Pierre, Monique, Pierre-Marie & Marie Luneau