Wednesday, September 15, 2021

D-2 before the harvest. We will start Friday morning, and once is not custom, by the reds. I don't necessarily like it, but nature decides. This year, she decided that the reds would be ready before the whites. Since my first vintage in 2013, we had always started with the Chevalier-Montrachet...

Thursday, September 16, 2021

D-1 before the harvest. I am always quite sensitive before the harvest. It's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of pressure as long as the grapes haven't come in... We ask ourselves a lot of questions about the vintage, not to suffer, to adapt... It's always a challenge. I'm not complaining, I chose this exciting job, not to do the same thing every year, or rather if but differently. I couldn't do anything but work with the living.

Friday, September 17, 2021

D-Day: harvest. We started with Clos des Poutures, one of my favorite terroirs. The quantity is not as small as I imagined. Le Clos may have protected the plot from frost. The Rugiens with whom we chained suffered more. These are first impressions, but the maturity is quite pretty. The weather was beautiful. It will not last, unfortunately for the harvest part. On the other hand, it is perfect for the seedlings that we have planted recently.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Harvest, the second day. Today, we harvested our Pommard 1er Cru Pézerolles. I really like to analyze and understand the personality of my wines. In all classes at school, there is always a well-groomed student, parted on the side, dressed very neatly. The first in the class. It is a bit like the personality of Pézerolles I find, a consensual wine that will please a lot. A good length, a pretty color, a rich palette of aromas, all the characteristics of a great wine. It's the Sean Connery of the Côte de Beaune!

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Harvest, day 3. A beautiful rainy day. No harvest in the vines for today. But work in the winery on the grapes already brought in.

Monday, September 20, 2021

Harvest, day 4. Difficult conditions today. Lots of rain, in quantity, non stop. It is very difficult for the pickers; the leaves cling to the hands, the grapes are less accessible, the earth sticks to buckets and boots. Good work by the team on the ground because we received rather clean crates. Trading day with Pommard, Beaune, Saint-Aubin... Rather pretty overall. Maturity is still correct.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Harvest, the fifth day. After rain the good weather ! Today, we received 17 students from the BSB in Dijon for a day of harvesting. Morning of grape harvest in a plot located in the lower part of Pommard, picnic at the Château, visit to Loaris, the winery... An interesting exchange with these curious and passionate young people. The workload begins to increase with the start of fermentations. You have to watch, pick and come up at the right time, while juggling the grapes that arrive.

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Harvest, day 6. Beginning of the white harvest with in particular Chevalier and Perrières. Yields are historically low. Frost, various diseases (coulure, mildew, powdery mildew), this vintage is difficult. The harvest is qualitative, but I don't really like the cliché "low yield = extraordinary quality". A plant adapted to its environment on a living and healthy soil will offer a generous and qualitative harvest.It's time to realize that we have to adapt our driving modes

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Harvest, day 7. Today we returned from Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet. The weather was very nice, blue sky all day. The maturity is attractive, the volumes remain low. We can note that the plots that we pruned late, on which we put candles and carried out good monitoring over the season, offer a better yield.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Harvest, day 8. We have almost finished harvesting the Chassagne. First tastings, notably of Pommard. The vintage promises to be fresh, in the spirit of 2013, 2014, 2008. Very Burgundian in a way. We weren't used to it anymore.

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Harvest, the ninth day. Very big day in order to bring in as many whites as possible before the storms expected this evening. The sunny week allowed our Juliénas grapes to reach superb maturity. We attack tomorrow.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Harvest, day 10. Tenth day of work, it's starting to get exciting. No Sunday in this intense time. The program of the day: barreling work, recovery of trade grapes from good partners, first harvest of Juliénas in Beaujolais. The big thunderstorms last night did not impact us. We are in the middle of tasting the first plots of red harvested.

Monday, September 27, 2021

Harvest, day 11. Saint-Romain Combe Bazin, Saint-Aubin, Beaune Lulunne... very fine white grapes harvested today, which is not displeasing to me. Typical chardonnays with a beautiful maturity. The fermentations are going well at the moment, the fruit of a year of work that is becoming something serious. The team is well established, everyone adapts, holds their place.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Harvest, twelfth day. A beautiful day. Long, but beautiful. Harvest of Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Murgers Dents de Chien. Beautiful grapes which did not suffer following the storms. On the winery side, everything is fine. It tastes good and morale is good. A lot of work between receptions and devatting. We are well into the harvest, no doubt about it! The estate team is always there to lend a hand. The end of the day beer is always so good.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Harvest, day 13. Big day in the vineyard and in the cellar. Harvest of red Burgundy in Saint-Maurice-lès-Couches. It was sunny, it rained, then it was sunny, then it rained. Then it was sunny again. Devatting of the Crenilles. It's starting to get really exciting. Objective: finish before the weekend. We changed the keg for the beer.

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Harvest, day 14. Another great day's work. The temperatures are ideal for vinification. I keep it simple: in the morning, I open the doors, and in the evening, I close. No need for thermoregulation. Vatting times are short. In the Beaujolais, we are also on low yields. It's starting to tug on the legs. Everyone is holding on. At the end of the day, we taste Bordeaux with the team. I stay on my thirst.

Friday, October 1, 2021

Harvest, fifteenth day. A beautiful fall day. It is the first time in my life that I am still harvesting in October. Harvest from our Sauvignon parcel near Chassagne. A plot that I could no longer plant today with the specifications that do not allow this variety. It was in this vineyard that we had planted hemp between the rows. The morale of the winery team is good.Lots of devatting, more than half done. The style of the vintage is pleasant, fresh, with short vatting. Like when I started. Late afternoon beer is always good.

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Harvest, last day. Last harvests today in Burgundy and also in Beaujolais. The week has been intense. Beautiful grapes, a very nice vintage with unfortunately a small volume. The vinification is already well underway, we now have to accompany and monitor the work of the vats. Soon the Paulée!

Armand Heitz

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