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Blatch's diary of the 2007 Bordeaux harvest

Wednesday 23 January 2008 • 2 min read

Below is my best shot at an electronic representation of Bill Blatch's diagram of the day by day progression of picking in the 2007 harvest in Bordeaux. My apologies for the wiggly lines (Julia, on holiday, would be horrified) and the occasional wobble. I hope you can make sense of it nevertheless. Note that the numbers in the Sauternes 'column' refer to which trie, passage through the vines to pick, was taking place at that point. See the key to symbols and footnotes at the bottom of the table – JR.

Aug

27 M    22-35° s/dr     2 mm
28 Tu    21-35°     sh/s     1 mm            Whites
29 W     15-19°     r         19 mm            I
30 Th    13-22°     s                              I
31 F     11-24° c/dr     1 mm          I
Sep
01 Sa    12-25°     c/s                           I
02 Su    13-25°     s                              I                                                        
03 M    12-23°  dr/s    1 mm         I
04 Tu    15-22°     s                              I                                                                      
05 W     11-23°     s                             I                                                                            
06 Th    13-25°     s                              I                                     
07 F     15-25°   s                    I                                                  
08 Sa    13-25°     s                             I                                                        
09 Su    13-27°     s                             I                                         Sauternes           
10 M      13-27° s                       I                                  1st trie
11 Tu    13-24°     s                              I                                                           1
12 W     12-22°     s                             I                                                           1
13 Th    10-28°     s                             I                                                        1    
14 F      15-28°     s                   I                                    1
15 Sa    12-29°     s                              I                                              1
16 Su    13-31°     s/sh     1 mm             I      Merlot                                  1
17 M   8-25°     s/dr   1 mm         I        I                             1
18 T      10-20°     s                              I        I                                     1
19 W     05-20°     s                              I        I                                     1       
20 Th    07-23°     s                              I        I                                           1
21 F    08-30°  s/dr     1 mm         I        I                                  1
22 Sa    15-20°     sh       10 mm            I         I        Cab      Cab              1      
23 Su    11-24°     s                            I         I            Franc     Sauvi    1
24 M    -22°     s/dr       2 mm      I         I          I             I         1+2
25 Tu    10-18°     sh       10 mm*          I         I             I              I            1+2      
26 W     10-17°     c/s                                     I                 I           I           1+2
27 Th    07-15°     s                                       I                 I           I           1+2
28 F    07-20°   s                               I            I           I       1+2
29 Sa    10-17°     c/sh       4 mm                     I                 I           I          
30 Su    12-25°     c/s/sh    6 mm                     I                 I           I
Oct
01 M   18-24°     r       5 mm                I             I           I           2+3
02 Tu    17-26°     sh/c/s    1 mm                     I             I           I              2+3
03 W     17-24°     s/c                                    I             I              I                 2+3
04 Th    17-25°     dr/s       1 mm                     I             I              I                 2+3
05 F   17-22°   c/r      22 mm**          I             I           I            2+3     
06 Sa    17-20°     c/s                                     I             I           I                
07 Su    15-22°     f/s                                     I             I           I                 3+4       
08 M  15-21°   f/s                             I             I           I                 3+4
09 Tu    12-19°     s/c/sh    6 mm                     I             I           I             3+4         
10 W     14-18°     r/c/s      5 mm                     I             I           I            
11 Th    10-19°     s                                       I             I           I                 3+4
12 F   08-19°   f/s                                                  I                 3+4
13 Sa    07-20°     f/s                                                               I             3+4 
14 Su    08-24°     f/s                                                                I             3+4
15 M   10-25°   f/s                                                  I             3+4
16 Tu    12-24°     s                                                                  I             3+4
17 W     12-20°     dr/s       2 mm                                                I             3+4
18 Th    12-19°     s                                                                  I             3+4
19 F   05-17°    s                                                    I             3+4
20 Sa    05-16°     s                                                                                       3+4
21 Su    02-16°     s                                                                                3+4
22 M      05-15s                                                                   3+4+5+6
23 Tu    05-15°     s                                                                                4+5+6+7
24 W     01-13°     s                                                                                4+5+6+7
25 Th    05-12°     s                                                                                4+5+6+7
26 F      03-14°  s                                                                                       4+5+6+7
27 Sa    02-14°     s                                                                                4+5+6+7

                                                                          

The Sauternes  “tries” continued up to 12 Nov

Bold type = the main days of harvesting
c  = Cloud           f = Fog                             
s   = Sun             r = Rain                                                                                     

sh = Showers       dr= Drizzle                                               

Figures are for Mérignac

* = Rainfall figure for the town of Bordeaux; very little elsewhere

**= Rainfall figure for the town of Bordeaux only; no rainfall elsewhere                             
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