2024 harvest

The 2024 harvest of our three terroirs, La Londe, Collobrières and Pignans, began as usual between 16 August in La Londe, the earliest seaside terroir, and 22 August in Pignans, the most continental. At one time, this was considered an ‘early’ year, but now it’s a normal one!

Unlike previous years, there was no drought… Phew! It was a fine year, with the rain we needed at the end of Winter and in Spring, punctuated by a few frosts, but less severe than usual in Pignans and Collobrières. The only setback was the Mistral wind, which brought the cold temperatures to Figuière and caused some coulure at the height of flowering. It has to be said that no two years are alike, given the climate changes we are experiencing. Our teams have to remain constantly vigilant, constantly coming up with new solutions to adapt to the whims and surprises of nature.

A real headache!

A new phenomenon linked to the warmer weather in our regions is blocking ripening; which is having a major impact on our harvesting calendar. White grape varieties such as Rolle are being kept waiting! The reason: the very high temperatures of the day are no longer offset by cool temperatures at night. The plant suffers and runs out of steam, giving it less respite at night to recharge its batteries and causing a blockage in ripening. This phenomenon has led us to suspend harvesting for a few days in certain plots to achieve the right degree of ripeness. By taking daily samples, we are able to change the order in which the grapes are harvested, with disparities observed within the same grape variety, depending on the terroir and exposure of the plots. A real headache!

White grape varieties

The white grape varieties are doing well, with beautiful bunches of grapes. The climate was particularly favourable for Rolle, much to our delight! Promising whites await…

Red grape varieties

The red grape varieties are showing fine qualities with Syrah and Cinsault; small yields of Mourvèdre point to good concentrations. The Grenache is more capricious, with more or less the same volume from one plot to the next!

A good team!

Around sixty pickers are working in our vineyards this year, particularly in the gobelet pruned vines at Pignans and Collobrières. This type of pruning doesn’t allow access to our machines, which use in the trellised vineyards. Manual harvesting at night, starting at 4 o’clock in the morning were really appreciated. Pickers were equipped with headlamps to take advantage of the cool nights. From dawn onwards, deer, wild boar and hares accompany our pickers, from 25-year-old students to 80-year-old pensioners. That’s right… Jean, our favourite pensioner, has been picking grapes in Figuière for 17 years now! It seems that the harvest keeps you in shape!