As usual the highly organised (and many would say slightly paranoid) Brits are ready for the harvest by the second week of August!  Everyone else is still on holiday! The weather is hot and sunny and the by then slightly anxious Brits are worrying about the lack of water that is a common factor throughout the Hérault.  Following the 15 aug holiday the rest of the Languedoc begins to stir from its summer slumber and realises that their white grapes are maturing far faster than they realised and that they are clearly not ready or able to take them into the winery. 

The larger negociants and most local co-operatives are not ready to receive grapes until the end of August.  Smug Brits pick their 13.5 per cent ripe Chardonnay on 20 aug and have it safe in the winery! 

Weather then takes a turn for the worse.  Storms forecast throughout the Languedoc. It seems that we are about to receive too much water at just the wrong time.  Highly stressed Brits spend the entire weekend (03-05 sep) ahead of the bad weather harvesting Merlot and Roussanne.  Receive some rain at 6am last Monday morning (05 sep) just after the final trailer of Roussanne is processed - Champagne to celebrate!  Once again smug Brits watch all the neighbours and the co-operative working all morning and into the baking hot and humid afternoon to harvest something, anything, before the storms come. 

Tense Brits wait all day for storm (still 05 sep!), frantically clearing drains.  It finally breaks at 8pm with one of the loudest claps of thunder ever heard!  Not as bad as we expected with only 10mm of rain, however our oenologist Delphine in the Aude receives 60mm.  If we don’t get any more rain we can probably get into the vineyards to pick the grapes that we are due to sell to the co-operative (excess Grenache and unwanted Cinsault).  Inflexible co-operative only receives certain grape varieties on certain days, regardless of weather – in fact they appear to be completely unaware of the weather altogether! 

(Tuesday 06 sep) See on the ‘Meteo’ that Hérault is now on red alert.  ‘Une vigilance absolue’ is imposed for ‘phénomenes météorologiques dangereux’.  At midday we get a call from daughter’s maternelle [elementary school].  The Municipale Police have shut the schools.  The talk on the street is of floods like those in 1997/9.  Brits now resigned that they can do nothing to stop the impending doom.  Have been advised once before (by a certain Mr James Herrick!) that the only thing to do in this situation is to drink!  Between 6pm and 11pm, the storms rage.  Domaine Sainte Rose rain guage overflows, but neighbours’ volumes range from 120 to 150 mm, relatively little compared to some other areas.  The Hérault has been hit hard, however chez Delphine in the Aude it is a calmer night and she receives only 10mm. 

(Wednesday 07 sep) River Thongue at the back of the garden has transformed overnight from a turgid green pool into a raging torrent.  There is a little standing water in the already- harvested Merlot, but not the death and destruction anticipated by our overly active imagination!  Clearly the vineyards are waterlogged and there will be no harvesting for many days.  The rain continues off and on throughout the day and by the next morning we have received another 10mm.  In the Aude it is still raining.   

(Thursday 08 sep) Schools reopen and people return to the streets.  The forecast is for continued unsettled weather for another 24 hours.  By the weekend the wind will turn to the north and the sun will come out – ideal for drying things up.  Our precious Syrah, our old vine Grenache and our Cabernet Sauvignon will be closely watched for any sign of disease, however having completed our careful spray programme throughout the growing season, we know we have done all we can to prevent that eventuality.  A lot of water will have been absorbed, thus maturity slowed – but in the interim there is plenty to be done in the winery until such time as we can bring the rest of the harvest home.  Blood pressure returns to relatively normal levels!