We just received this from our German correspondant Karl LaFong, which has not received much U.S. press:
Hi, Eva and Bernie!
I know that this comment doesn’t deal directly with this blog entry, but I didnt know where to post it. I suppose it’s OK to put it here, as anyone reading this post is surely also interested in this information.
On Friday (May 15th, 2009) the following report appeared in our local newspaper (Badische Neueste Nachrichten) in Karlsruhe, Germany. I’m not sure, but quite possibly this information has not been very widely reported in the USA. So here it is:
Title: Heavy Hail Destroys Wine Harvest near Bordeaux
There has been a strong storm with damaging hail in the last day or so that has damaged large areas within the Bordeaux wine growing areas in the southern part of France. 50-80% of the wine crop has been destroyed in the Medoc area. There was more than 30% damage in Saint-Emilion, and up to 100% damage in the Entre-Deux-Mers area. “It is as if the vines had been bombarded with stones,” said Jean-Francois Lespinasse, a winegrower from the Chateau Bichon-Cassignols (quoted from the French website www.20minutes.fr). His 12 hectares (approx. 30 acres) in Graves were also damaged.
“Rather than the usual 4500 liters per hectare, I expect the harvest to be maximally 3-5 liters per hectare,” said Lespinasse. That will also have repercussions for the following years. In 2006 and 2007 the winegrowers complained because of frost damages.
What does this mean for the Bordeaux harvest for 2009? We’re not sure, but you heard it here first! Read more here at Wine Spectator: http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,5083,00.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
