Château Fougas - The vineyard in April
During the month of April, the week of "Primeurs" opens in Bordeaux. French and foreign merchants, as well as journalists, come to taste the latest vintage produced, i.e., for this year, 2021. This ritual, which has been a little upset over the past two years due to COVID19, is resuming its rights in the greatest excitement...
In the vineyard...
In this month, the foliage has grown and the bunches are now visible.
In Fougas, their number is very high this year, a sign of the vitality of the vines : two to three bunches per branch.
This allows a first count to be made to assess the potential volume of the next harvest.
In the event that the number of grapes is too high to achieve a quality wine, we will carry out a "green" harvest by removing the useless bunches before the "véraison" so that the remaining bunches can take on all the tannins and aromas. produced by the vines.
In the cellar...
Once the winter is over, the wine must be oxygenated to allow it to do its work of improvement.
This is drawn from the barrels to pass into a tank where we proceed to a "reassembly" with aeration before returning its place in the barrels.
Weather...
This month of April is characterized by an alternation of regular rains and good weather.
These rains, of low intensity, penetrate the soil without causing erosion at the level of the clay-humic surface layer and thus recharge the water table.
Temperatures are mild without too much difference between morning and evening.
... The vineyard shines!