Chêne Bleu 2023 – Harvest Report
Beautiful natural balance and high-quality potential with surprisingly high yields in arollercoaster vintage.
Summary
This was an intense vintage in which, as elsewhere in the Rhone Valley, climatic surprises kept us on our toes obliging us to draw on our skills and experience to make the right decisions. Yet it proved to be another abundant year for Chêne Bleu, with beautiful quality potential and yields the third highest on record behind 2022 and 2015.
The growing season: A triple whammy of weather from historically dry conditions to downpours and back to drought.
The vintage opened with a wet winter until 15th of December, replenishing water reserves in the soil and providing a welcome boost for the growth cycle after last year’s drought. We recorded annual rainfall of 775mm slightly above that of the regional average thanks to our elevation.
Winter then went on to be historically dry for the region with January 2023 opening the year in cold, dry, sunny conditions compounded by the Mistral which blew for around 20 days at the beginning of February. This period, according to Inter Rhône, is the highest number of days without rain ever recorded in the Rhone Valley since 1959.
‘Green work’ and vineyard maintenance
The sunshine provided the perfect backdrop for vineyard maintenance, and we used the time to restore trellising, till and prune. On 17th of February, we also took advantage of the excellent conditions to plant out 2'500 Syrah seedlings.
On the evening of 26th of February, a welcome 10cm of snow fell, breaking the dry spell. A23mm thunderstorm mid-March also did us some good. As milder temperatures set in from 15th of March, we applied “eau d’enduit” a biodynamic mixture of water, white clay (kaolin) and horsetail decoction to the vines across the domaine to help heal pruning wounds.
Bud burst and vine take off!
The first buds in their woolly coats were seen on the Viognier on 20th of March, and 10 days later for the other grape varieties. (A couple of weeks earlier than last year).
The vines took off, showing vigorous growth and good health throughout the vineyard, boding well for the vintage.
By the beginning of May however, we began to fear a repeat of the 22 vintage which had been dry throughout the vegetative period from April to July. With the water deficit already marked and the pond level, our protected, muddy watering hole for wild boar, worryinglylow, we watered the new Syrah plantation in anticipation of a possible water shortage.
And boom! From dry to tropical
Thundershowers in the evening of 19th of May, accompanied by mild temperatures lasteduntil the end of June! This eased our drought concerns but the humidity considerably upped our workload in May and June, already the busiest months of the year in the vineyard.
With the increased pressure of disease and managing the now flourishing grass and cover crops between the rows we had to be everywhere! “Green work" such as de-budding and tucking in was carried out meticulously to meet the objectives defined for each plot. These "prophylactic measures" helped to lower the pressure of mildew and powdery mildew which became increasingly severe in the 2023 vintage.
Rainfall over May and June remained moderate and the soil humidity good. Disease-control application rates were maintained, boosted by horsetail decoctions to strengthen the cell structure of young leaves and protect them from fungi such as mildew and powdery mildew.
Reserves and water tables were only partially replenished, however, a concern for future vintages. Thankfully, we were spared hail damage and the torrential rainfall from thunderstorms experienced by other vineyards in the valley. (Châteauneuf du Pape on 29th ofMay).
Excellent vine health and happy flowering
The first flowers appeared on 1st of June and flowering was successful despite the damp weather mi-June. (The Syrah and white varieties finished flowering around the 16th of June, and the Grenache on 23rd of June.)
This was coupled with a reassuringly high quantity of grapes per plot. The general health of the vines continued to be excellent, pointing to a fine vintage. Downy mildew was only present on the leaves and powdery mildew was contained. Very few bunches were affected. The young plantations were also flourishing, helped by the weather!
In July, after a month and a half of "tropical" conditions, the weather - finally - turned dry and warm.
Drought, record temperatures and a stressful month
Drought returned in August. The heatwave, starting mid-month, had an irreparable impact on the plots most sensitive to water stress. Many of the leaves fell exposing the bunches to thefull blast of heat and sunlight. The white varieties (Vermentino, Clairette and some of the Roussane) suffered the most with the ripening process blocked in some of the bunches which became stunted and acidic. So much work reduced to nothing. A 35mm storm at the end of August put an end to this sad state of affairs.
Harvest: And then everything fell into place!
The August heat brought harvest dates forward. We started picking the Viognier on 13th of September (a week later than last year and three weeks later than vineyards in the valley),continuing with the remainder of the white grapes, dropping out any bunches affected by the heatwave.
Fragrant notes and fresh acidity for our whites
Remarkably, despite the rollercoaster of unpredictable, extreme weather, our white grapes yielded 120hl/ha and are showing fragrant notes with fresh acidity thanks to our altitude and extreme diurnal range.
2023 is our strongest vintage yet for Viognier at 46hl/ha (21hl/ha has been our average for thepast 14 years with a maximum yield of 41hl/ha in 2016). Two levels of ripeness were identified according to their plot in the vineyard (12.5% and 13.5% vol respectively) enabling us to make two lots of Viognier.
Yields for for Aliot stood at 24hl/ha (our Roussane, Grenache Blanc and Marsanne blend), and at 49hl/ha for Astralabe Blanc (Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Clairette). Both superior yields to last year which was a bumper year.
From 19th-25th of September, we moved on to picking our old vine Grenache Noir for Le Rosé in rainy conditions. The bunches remained healthy nonetheless, and our wonderful team did a marvelous job of sorting the bunches in the vineyard. So focused were they, they didn’t bat an eyelid when Nicole and journalist Patti Cohen from the New York Times visited! Yields rendered 195 hl/ha of Rosé (Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Syrah blend)
Perfect harvest conditions for our top reds: Beautiful balance, deep color and silky, lush long mouth taste for our Syrah
As in the 22 vintage, there were initial concerns over dilution of acidity and sugar content in the red grapes at the beginning of the harvest. However, we waited a further three days before picking to ensure optimum ripening for the red wine cuvées and our short wait paid off. In a final twist in this year of climatic surprises, we were blessed with perfect conditions for the remainder of the harvest. Beautiful bright sunshine, cool night-time temperatures and afternoon temperatures of around 25-30°C ripened our red grapes to perfection. We started by picking the Syrah which was showing good phenolic maturity with a high level of seed and skin ripeness. The additional days on the vine in favorable conditions had ripened it further to give balanced sugar and acidity levels. We are now seeing 13.5-14% avb for our high-level Syrah with a Ph between 3.55/3.65 – a beautiful, natural balance with a long mouth taste of red fruit with black fruit and chocolate notes coming through.
Mourvèdre ripened smoothly this vintage thanks to a rainy spring and a clement late season. However, as the skins were fragile, we took the decision to harvest them before the Grenache.
Spicy red and black fruit with a richness of tannins for our Grenache
Grenache had more difficulty ripening this year, with the skins taking time to ripen while the sugar levels were ahead. We worked row by row, plot by plot to identify the best bunches. Now with maceration underway we are seeing good balance between the acidity, phenolics, alcohol and texture/structure bolstered by rich tannins and concentrated aromas of black fruit, spice and red fruit for those grapes destined for Abelard.
Yields of 220-250hl/ha of red are expected with a good level of quality and natural balance.
The 2023 harvest came to a close on 6th of October, spanning total of 24 days versus last year’s 27 days. We recorded total volume of 102,600kg (vs. our average of 81,000kg per vintage)