Loire 2017: very meagre harvest in parts of Muscadet

Christelle Guibert and Vincent Caillé pruning in the 

Terre de Gneiss parcel in early February 2017

Today I heard about the 2017 harvest from Christelle Guibert, one of the partners in Terre de Gneiss that comes from a small vineyard in the commune of Monnières. 

In 2016 the harvest from this parcel was tiny – hit by frost and then badly affected by the worst outbreak of mildew in the Loire in many people's living memory. 

Unfortunately the late April frost struck here again this year (2017) seriously affecting yields. The Terre de Gneiss parcel was harvested on Tuesday (5th September) yielding only a miserable 7 hectares per hectare. This means that there are not enough grapes to go into their egg fermentation vat this year. 

I will be in the Pays Nantais on Monday for a couple of days, so will report further on how the 2017 vintage is going. 

Vincent Caillé's reaction 

to the 2017 April frosts    

April 2017 – frost in the Loire: Vincent Caillé (Muscadet) sums it up

For the second successive year the Loire has been hit by a series of late April frosts. It is still too early to be precise about the scale of the damage. Unfortunately producers may face another potential frost early tomorrow morning, although Méteo France suggests otherwise.

There will be time in a later post to report more fully on the effects of these frosts. For the moment Vincent Caillé's Facebook post sums it up perfectly!

My thoughts are with producers in the Loire, Bordeaux, part of Germany – indeed anywhere threatened by the frosts. 

Vincent Caillé during the 2013 vintage

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine

Vincent with Christelle Guibert pruning

in Terre d'Gneiss: February 2017