It really is very hot indeed down here in the Languedoc and in all of southern France, including Bordeaux, as far as I can see – and has been so since mid June at least. France however has made up for the drought of the 2005 growing season with much higher rainfall in 2006 than, say, the UK and some spraying has been necessary.
Indeed most of the northern hemisphere wine growing regions seem to have experienced a heatwave already, and while of course it’s far too early to know what will happen so crucially in August, much less September, here’s a despatch just in from a region not normally associated with high temperatures, from Sybille Kuntz of the Mosel:
"But at the moment we have enough water and sun. Will see. We keep you informed." In this email from 11 jun we told you the weather will change and its getting warm. And since this time indeed it is very warm, around 30°C and more. The last days in the afternoon we had 37° C, like 2003. So the vintage 2006 looks very good so far and the grapes look marvellous. And we have the first sugar reading for this year: 20° Oechsle. This is the magic sugar reading, because the grapes slowly lose there susceptibility to mildew. The last month we sold a lot of 2005 KUNTZ-RIESLING to KLM during the Soccer World Cup. In the airplane it was served to the football fans with a Menu in the Business Class. However new wine is coming in three months, we will pick already the next vintage. After this sun now it cannot be a bad one. Until soon, we keep you informed. Greetings from the tropical Mosel.