Harvest 2023, a promising vintage
A highlight of the year, the harvest punctuates the production of wine tools and oenology instruments for winegrowers, sommeliers, wine merchants, etc.
At the start of autumn, the harvest is ending, the first estimates are starting to become clearer in the estates and cellars, so here is an assessment of this wine season.
Some regions were faced with adverse climatic conditions. The scorching summer caused a decrease in acidity and an increase in the natural degree of grapes in the wine-growing areas most affected by the heat, in addition to hail episodes which affected many wine-growing regions that experienced abundant rainfall in september.
However, in the vast majority of wine-growing regions in France, the vines resisted valiantly, and winegrowers showed great ingenuity to overcome the many challenges encountered during the year. Throughout September, and sometimes as early as mid-August, the 2023 harvest was generally successful.
The quality of the 2023 vintage will not only depend on the success of the harvest, although this phase is crucial. Whether it is manual harvesting, the use of grape harvesting machines, early harvests, late harvests or careful sorting of the berries, each winery and each winemaker has made strategic decisions and implemented their expertise to guarantee the best possible quality of grapes when placed in vats.
As is the case every year, the various stages of vinification and aging will also have a determining impact on the creation of each vintage. Depending on the crushing, pressing, alcoholic fermentation, maceration, malolactic fermentation, running off, filtering and blending methods used, the intrinsic characteristics of the grape harvested in 2023 may be improved or adjusted during this process. meticulous, thus transforming its precious nectar into wine.
As a result, each vintage will be distinguished by its own personality. However, the 2023 harvest already offers us a glimpse of certain trends to anticipate for the white wines, red wines, rosé wines and sparkling wines that will be bottled this year. In the majority of French wine regions, the conditions met suggest the possibility of a promising 2023 vintage to come.
Despite some difficulties, the 2023 harvest was carried out successfully in Provence
Once again, the hillsides of Provence were faced with periods of extreme heat, as well as episodes of hail. In addition, the spread of downy mildew has caused damage on certain farms. However, despite these obstacles, the vineyards of Provence have resisted the drought quite well, and we can expect some nice bottles of wine from the 2023 harvest in the appellations d'origine contrôlée (AOC) of Provence.
The 2023 harvest in Savoie was blessed by the weather conditions
On the 2000 hectares of the Savoyard vineyard, they benefited from generous sunshine in August followed by welcome rains in September. Despite the losses suffered in certain plots due to various bad weather during the year, overall, the Savoie wine estates have finally seen the end of the tunnel.
Despite the challenges posed by late frost, hail and heatwave, Savoyard winegrowers managed to harvest at the right time, with grapes that were preserved and rehydrated just before harvest. It turned out to be a small miracle that saved the 2023 vintage of Savoie wines at the very end of summer.