On October 12, we harvested the last grapes of a very challenging  vintage.

Spring was first marked by a major frost episode in early April, which caused real crop losses (around 60%). However, our emblematic Clos du Papillon plot was relatively spared thanks to the investment of the estate team (Simon, Vincent, Valentin..) and many friends who came to light the candles for several consecutive nights. This nocturnal work paid off: we obtained a nice harvest. The juices are in barrels and we enjoy listening to the sweet melody of the fermentations.

 The other plots did not survive the shock so well, rainy summer months generated pressure from fungal diseases such as downy mildew and difficulties for the ripening of the grapes. Yields are historically low, from 2 to 18 hl/ha depending on the cuvées and grape varieties... but the quality of the juice is quite satisfactory due to the last sunny days of the harvest. We remain optimistic and are now paying special attention to the aging of these wines!

It was a very rocky year!

We were not spared and came out of 2021 with a half-crop, which compared to other regions seems like we were relatively ok. My heart goes out to all our vignerons friends who had no grapes: I want them to know that our long exchanges/reflections for dealing with nature's current imbalances are not in vain. While each year it's true it can feel more and more aleatory if we are going to harvest the majestic fruit that is a grape bunch, we need to make sure we are taking care of the vines for them to be there in the first place...

Thanks to a pruning we organized in two times, one as late as possible, we feel that this helped keep a half- harvest. But we then had to face the rest of the growing season's challenges, with the difficulty of the vintage once again showing its face... In the end the vegetative cycle was slower than it's been in past years and we did not expect a precocious vintage. This was confirmed month after month, and very early on we assessed that if we could keep what was on the vines intact, we were going to have a very qualitative year. It was a constant battle against mildew that was particularly virulent, and we had to be patient in waiting out constant periods of rain. It created a lot of tension but we slowly got to the point of visualizing ripe grapes worthy of our expectations and patience. A return to a later harvest!

It's been a long time since we've had such circumstances. It reminds me of when we first arrived to the region, our first harvests taking place in the firmly fall weather of October. It was difficult work and we had to pay particular attention to delicate and fragile matter, but it really felt like a return to our roots! With a team that felt loyal and convivial (many have harvested with us for many years now), we picked grapes over two weeks.

After patiently waiting, we'd finally hit optimal maturity with the grapes. With a judicious pressing for the whites and a severe sorting for the reds that needed it, we acquired juices that have both high acidity and ripe fruit. October's weather helped us do the débourbages in finesse and was ideal to macerate the reds. Thanks to Clément's remarkable precision and serenity over the harvest, the juices share those qualities and are now aging calmly. The wines' structure, ripe and precise with high acidity, will no doubt produce the great wines we love so much, fresh and distinctly northern. A little paradise in the middle of the harassing spectacle of our climate. It's a vintage that makes us believe there is a counter-current to the trends we've seen in nature, a little order in what feels like a big mess. 

I'd like to thank some new elements in our team: Laure-Anne who is now working side by side with Christine and Kevin, who in the vines and the cellar with Dominique and Clément, has forged a like mindedness and assumed that the 2021 vintage saw the light of day in the best of conditions.  

It's been a long time since there had been seasonal trends like that of 2021. The abundant spring rains provided the soils with good humidity, but made the spread of powdery mildew aggressive. Our traditional work of cultivation, which involves a meticulous green pruning and repeated cuttings of the leaves around the bunch, allowed us to have healthy bunches in a natural way. The summer was particularly hot and dry, with recurring heatwaves and a long period of drought. These summer conditions brought the vine to a natural stress for lack of water, fortunately our autochthonous Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio and Carricante produce greater synthesis of sugars and matter. 

The fall, at times particularly rainy, helped the sap that had been momentarily blocked by the drought flow again, giving the vines vigor and allowing a slow and natural maturation. The rains continued to be abundant until October. This did not damage the bunches, which went through a slow and excellent ripening. Our precise and complete work of green pruning the leaves around bunches in June allowed for healthy grapes to grow without further treatments of sulfur or copper.

Our harvest started on October 1st in Milo picking a part of the Carricante. We then picked the Vignacalderara vineyard for reds. Then back to Milo for the "VignadiMilo" and "Palmento Caselle", and again to Vignacalderara for the "Vinupetra" and "VitiCentenarie". After a few days of rest, we harvested the Tartaraci Soprano vineyard and finally Vignabosco (which produces  "Vinuldilice") on October 22nd. Vignabosco was the only sector we picked earlier than usual, in this case a full week (note: this is technically the highest cultivated vineyard in all of Etna and one of the highest in the world.)

In Milo's Carricante, we had fallout of lapilli on several occasions. Sometimes it crept between the bunches. On August 29th there was an important and prolonged eruption in the afternoon with major dumps of lapilli and volcanic ash covering the Carricante vineyards. Fortunately we did not have any damage on the bunches. This was possible because The natural umbrella-like bearing of the leaves of our vines cultivated in alberello with chestnut stakes, they defended the bunch: after the incident many leaves were pierced by the lapilli relapse. This fact is a further demonstration of the need and adequacy of cultivating the vineyards on Etna in alberello. 

October 15th, 2021.

We just wrapped up our harvest. Everything is fermenting happily in the cellar. 

Globally we are very happy with the 2021 vintage given the climactic hardships we had to endure. The quantity is solid and the quality is excellent. It was a late ripening year so we got beautiful autumnal maturities. The potentials are low, acidity is high and there is already a lovely balance in the juices. It's a bit early to really know what the wines will become but I'm expecting a result similar to 2019. 

The only disaster of sorts: the new vines we started working in the Bugey in the 2020 vintage ("Soleyane" Blanc and Rouge) were devastated -frost for the whites, mildew for the reds. Unfortunately we won't be producing either "Soleyane" in 2021. 
 
For the rest of the haul, the volumes are normal for "Terroir de Saint Alban", very good for "Avant la Tempête" and low for the  Mondeuse. 

The harvest puts an end to a very peculiar 2021. In the end our time picking reflected to the rest of the year, as constant rain made working in the field difficult. We nonetheless finished under a magnificent October sun with magnificent grapes and a wonderful team. We shared great moments of friendship and good humor that will no doubt be transmitted to the future wines...

2021 will have been the most difficult vintage to manage since I started in 2015. Everything had started well with abundant but certainly precocious bud-break (this is happens every year now because the winters are too mild). I told myself I'd be able to produce as much as 2020 and for the first time in my career have two great vintages in a row. Of course what followed was an unprecedentedly long and intense frost snap that dashed my hopes. We had a first wave on April 6th, 7th and 8th then a second on the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th with temperatures getting as low as -4°C each morning.  

In the end we'd lost 75% of the crop and morale was back to being at an all time low. And what followed was no walk in the park either: constant rain until mid-August resulted in tremendous mildew pressure. Fortunately, the collective I belong to, Pinards et Jus d'Ancenis, agreed quickly that we would work together to find grapes from other regions to vinify. In the end I was able to make some Semillon and Muscadelle from Bergerac and some Cabernet Franc from  Anjou. Finding grapes was a very intense, human and shared aventure with Jacques Février, Benoît Landron et Marc Pesnot.

We went to Bergerac to harvest on September 15th, then waited a long time for maturities to develop in Oudon, everything was very late because of the constant rain. We picked the first Melons on September 29th (September 1st in 2020!) and kept at it until October 16th with the Cabernets. 

In the end I made as much wine as 2020 but with the majority coming from outside my region. There will be five cuvées:

– Le Souffle, a white from Melon de Bourgogne
– Coup d'Pouce, a rosé from Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon
– Les Sentinelles, a red of Gamay/Grolleau
– Le Détour blanc, a négoce Sémillon/Muscadelle
– Le Détour rouge, négoce Cabernet Franc

The fermentations went well and the wines are now waiting patiently to be bottled in the spring. The vintage is presenting itself to be very "Loire" with nice acidities and finesse. Perfect wines to drink with abandon!

2021 was a very complicated year. Just one very hot week in March led to bud-break and they froze on April 6th! We were lucky that Aligoté has a delayed vegetative cycle and we'd pruned late for some of the Chardonnay vines, neither of these had buds yet and this helped preserve a half-crop. 

This was followed by non-stop rain and colder temperatures, so we were not spared from mildew, odium and rot! In late September, our harvest team did a lot of sorting within the vines. The juices have a classic balance and are finishing to ferment in the new cuverie we built last spring.
 

Our harvest was September 27th to October 3rd. 6.5 days to harvest 12.5 hectares, as you can see we were very fast! 

We were already anticipating a small crop because of the frost and the ugly, rainy summer we had. But we expected to do better, we should have done better; the birds and boars found our vines! We tried protecting them with electrified fences, hair, tonnes fort (a device that mimics the sound of a gun shot) but we estimate they ate around 30% of what was still there!

The result: we had our shortest crop in 25 years, barely 20% of a normal vintage! It's a very hard blow! Elie and I are already thinking of scenarios for next year. The 2021vintage Cerdon will be released in Spring 2022

(NOTE: while not mentioned, Pépière lost 75% of it's crop to frost and mildew in 2021). 

October 8th, 2021.

With a reduced team of 38 pickers, we started the 2021 harvest on Thursday, September 16th on a bright and sunny day. The first thing we picked were the grapes in the two parcels we'd protected from frost with candles. From these two we'll have picked the most substantial amount for the estate at 37hl/h. 

After a few days of picking for the classic Pepie cuvée, on Wednesday we harvested the parcels of Gras Moutons; this was unique as we usually finish there but exceptional circumstances made the grapes ripen faster, undoubtedly this has to do with the frost. The next day, still under the sun, we harvested the parcels of Briords and the result was a wine with 11.9% potential alcohol and great acidity. In fact everything we picked had great acidity so it will be great tension in the wines...

After only 12 days, we picked the Pépière lieu-dit on September 30th and October 1st for the last of the whites. Though the quality was really there and lent itself producing Cru wines, with the exception of Briords we have decided not to make any in 2021. 

We still have to finish the red, some of the Côt was picked on October 1st and we'll finish on Monday. The Cabernet is not ready yet, next week's weather looks good so we'll wait and see. 

Photos by Paul Stefanaggi:

We finished harvesting on the afternoon of October 6th, in total we spent three weeks picking under mostly good weather. That may seem anecdotal for you but for us it meant a lot!

Looking back in 2021's rearview mirror, we can really say that we and our team experienced everything the sky could give us! Frost of course: 10 long all-nighters in the vines were not enough and the biting, humid cold of April devastated up to 80% of certain parcels despite 22 hectares being protected by candles, anti-frost towers and people, not just our team but an army of friends totalling more than 40 souls out with us each night. Those nights will stay with all of us for a very long time; a part of the team would come as back up in the morning to turn off the candles and towers and it really looked like a war front: clouds of black smoke, burning candles between the rows, the sound of the anti frost towers... The spring and summer that followed were globally humid and grey. We did an overall good job fighting against mildew but some parcels still suffered heavily. Then we got hit by hail, whipping our foliage and the freshly formed bunches. Summer stayed somber and was at times very humid like in early August when it rained non-stop.

September is the month we harvest and usually brings more tempered weather in our parts. At least we can say we got that, the sun shining on our surviving grapes and those picking them! We started on September 16th with Butte de la Roche, the first time starting there in 13 years. This terroir of serpentine, ventilated year round and unaffected by any frost/mildew/hail was thus ready the earliest. It was hard to hire a team; just like our restaurant friends Covid has made finding help very challenging. In the end we were 20 (versus 70 in 2020) but the fact that it took us longer to pick was actually a good thing, the extra time resulting in perfect maturities. The nice weather in September helped counteract the lack of sun in July and August and our potentials are from 11.5 to 12.5. The acidities are good and balanced. Some parcels suffered from botrytis and we had to do a very strict pass (most notablly for the Folle Blanche) to ensure top quality. Globally, the parcels protected by candles produced 50% of a normal crop. But the isolated areas and even those protected by the anti-frost towers were hit much harder; we are on average at 13hl/h on 36 hectares. All in all this took 15 days over three weeks.

In the cellar, we tend to gravitate towards micro- vessels. A small crop, small vats! But some new ones joined the fray, like five 400L barriques from Vicard, two 2000L foudres from Stockinger and five concrete eggs lined with the serpentine of Butte de la Roche (the latter resulting from two years of research and development with the engineering company Biopythos). While we continue to have all five of the 2020 lieu-dits in the cellar, the 2021's finished fermenting. Another first for us! 

We continue to reduce the size of the estate each vintage, something we have been doing for the decade or so since we've taken over. We will release an additional two hectares in 2022 and focus or replanting on the parcels that count in coming years. We've been able to stay afloat selling the last four vintages' worth of wine but today the cellar is pretty empty. 

No surprise, the 2021 harvest was a very fast one, with a bit of rain that slightly affected the sanitary state of the grapes. Mont Damnés in particular was catastrophic for us, we picked about five hectoliters from our hectare of vines. We have therefore decided not to make a Mont Damnés bottling nor a "Cuvée Buster" in 2021. The little volume we had will be blended into "L'Authentique 2021", itself a wine heavily impacted by frost with about 1/3rd of what we produced in 2020. 

The alcohol will be lower than the last few years and there will be an acidity that I felt has been missing, so it's going to be more balanced than immediate past vintages. We are turning the page on this forsaken year and hoping for the best in 2022. 

One tiny bit of satisfaction: we won't make red but will produce a bit of rosé.