Harvests have started in the Loire Valley

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2020 vintage seems promising!

On all French wine-growing regions, the harvest start date has been brought forward by two to four weeks. Among the last ones to harvest, Loire Valley winegrowers started on average ten days before than usual. For Chardonnay, Muscadet from Nantes and Crémant d'Anjou and Touraine it started at the end of August. The Nantes vineyard harvest began on Wednesday August 26. This harvest is one of the earliest since 40 years for this vineyard. In Touraine, the harvest should begin around September 10-15 instead of September 20-25 usually, according to Jean-Martin Dutour, president of Interloire

The hot and dry spring combined with a hot summer with some rainfall at the end of August caused some losses but optimized the maturity of the grapes bunches. Volume and quality should be there. We expect a vintage of very good quality, provided that the winegrowers manage the heterogeneity of maturities observed in certain sectors. They must also take care of the sanitary condition which, so far excellent, tends to deteriorate as a result of the rain.

These harvests are part of an unprecedented sanitary and commercial context because, this year, sanitary measures must be considered. The wine estates must put in place actions to protect vineyard workers and organize their work. In addition, many wine growers who use foreign workers face closed borders and fear they will not have enough labor. Thereby, this vintage will have a particular social and human signature.

This harvest will indeed leave a mark on the winegrowers’ minds!