The 2009 harvest finished Tuesday lunchtime, a day earlier than expected, largely thanks to the exceptional quality of grapes we have picked. Do we have in front of us a great or immense vintage?? Time will tell but I have certainly never seen such a beautiful quality of crop in the ten years since I took back control of winemaking at Domaine du Comte-Liger Belair.Saturday we attacked the Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Aux Reignots, immediately followed by La Romanée. This was the rhythm nature gave us. After midday on Saturday the Vosne Romanée Clos du Château had been totally engulfed by the picking team and all was harvested within an hour and a half, which allowed us to follow by picking Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots that afternoon, too. Sunday morning and we headed for Vosne Romanée La Colombière, then after this the team had to be separated in two, some to harvest Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes, others Nuits Saint Georges Les Lavières. There was no harvesting on Sunday afternoon, our usual practice at the Domaine, to honour, more than anything else, the day of our lord and to thank him for having given us such wonderful fruit. Monday morning we attacked a parcel of Vosne Romanée premier cru Aux Reignots and Vosne Romanée premier cru Hauts Beaux Monts that we delivered to Domaine de la Romanée Conti for the charity auction "Climats de Coeur" (http://www.climats-du-coeur.com/) followed by the different parcels that are used for the Domaine's Vosne Romanée. Finally that day we picked Vosne Romanée 1er Cru les Petits Monts and le Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru Aux Cras. The harvest ended on Tuesday with Echezeaux and Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées.
Everything is now in the cuverie. The juices are lovely - rich, with a balanced acidity, the colours are starting to come out and show their brilliance ...so everything is going well .. Some cuves are starting to give the impression that fermentation is just beginning. You'll find out more very soon!!
