September

The “Ban des Vendanges” – an announcement something like the banns of marriage – is the official date decreed by the Prefect of the department for the start of harvesting. Any time after that date, the grower can decide when to pick.

That decision is a matter of judgement based on several criteria:

• the dates of the different phenological stages of the vine : flowering, veraison and maturity, which assist the grower in his calculations. In Bordeaux, for Merlots, the average time-lapse between the midway stage of flowering and full maturity is 110 days, and between the midway stage of veraison and full maturity 45 days.

• sight and taste : tasting the grapes regularly gives an idea of the state of ripeness of the pulp (sweetness increases, the “green” and acidic flavours decrease) and the skin (crispness, thickness, aromas, etc.).

• chemical analysis of the grapes : in the three weeks before the start of harvesting, samples of grapes are taken regularly from different plots and sent for analysis, which will determine the sugar concentration (the alcohol potential), the acid content and the proportion of phenolic compounds – the tannins and anthocyanins that give the wine colour and body.

• The weather forecast.