22 April 2017

La gelée noire — “black ice”

It's too soon to know how extensive the damage is, says an article in the regional newspaper (La Nouvelle République), but a major freeze has affected many of the vineyards around Saint-Aignan and the town just across the river, Noyers-sur-Cher. Ground-level temperatures have plunged into the mid-20s in ºF over the past two or three mornings.


The smudge pots in the Renaudière vineyard just outside our back yard were lit again last night, for the third night in a row. According to our own outside thermometer, the temperature this morning is 6 to 8 ºF higher this morning than it was day before yesterday, but I took Callie out for a walk in the vineyard yesterday afternoon and I was surprised to see so much of the new, tender growth on the vines has been completely burned up — grillé — by freezing temperatures. Shriveled. Drooping.


That includes the leaves on our little fig tree, both in the far western end of our yard, near the garden shed. It has definitely been colder out there than closer to the house. I haven't had a good look at the cherry tree back there yet. I'll do that this morning, and take some photos. When the damage is so clearly visible to the naked eye, you can be sure that it's pretty bad. It takes a few days to measure accurately because the tender growth is still slowly dying. Ironically, it was so warm yesterday afternoon that I was out in shirtsleeves on my walk with Callie.


The NR newspaper article lists as hard-hit the vineyards around Cheverny, Oisly, Châtillon-sur-Cher, Saint-Romain, and Noyers, on the north side of the Cher river, but also Saint-Georges on the south bank about 10 miles west of Saint-Aignan. It doesn't mention Saint-Aignan and Mareuil-sur-Cher specifically, but I can attest to the fact that the damage is disheartening. I'm glad I don't depend on agriculture — that's what grape-growing is, after all — for my living.


Over in Montlouis, the television news reported, grape-growers have hired helicopters and pilots to fly low over their vineyards to stir up the air and keep the cold from settling at ground level. Drastic measures are called for. Montlouis makes some of the best white wines in the Loire Valley, along with Vouvray. The Touraine-Amboise vineyards have also suffered major damage from the extreme cold, according to a separate article in the paper.


I also want to go see that long patch of orchids again too. I took the photos here 48 hours ago, before the effects of the freeze were visible.

9 comments:

  1. We are looking at a no-fruit year this year!
    Everything was in blossom, or setting fruit....
    and now, according to Susan yesterday....
    we are officially in a drought situation!

    Still, we have the wildlife to entertain us.... and a pretty full cellier!
    And the still cider I made from last year's huge crop of apples!

    ReplyDelete
  2. If the orchids have been affected by the frost then you know it's really bad. Our friends at St Georges have been frosted, but I don't know how badly yet. The Domaine de Chanteloup at Amboise say they've lost the entire crop, and Chinon are admitting to 95% losses this year (as opposed to last year when they only officially admitted to 70%, even though it was higher in many places). This year at Chinon areas that were not affected last year, like the high status parcels at St Louans, have also been hit. The guy who organised the helicopters is interesting. I doubt he'll be allowed to do it too often because the noise so early in the morning is a problem, but he counters the 'not eco-friendly' arguments regarding fossil fuel usage fairly well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't make it out to see the orchids this morning. It's interesting that the Domaine de la Renaudie owner put out smudge pots (bougies anti-gel) only in two plots near our house, and nowhere else in the Renaudière vineyard that I have seen. One of those is planted in Chardonnay, and the other might be Pinot Noir. I wonder if he is protecting those because he needs them for his sparkling wines. Other vineyard parcels, other grapes, got no protection and have really suffered.

      Delete
  3. I guess the wine grower knew what he or she was doing, with the pots where the best and most valuable grapes are, and at the bottom of hills where frost settles. Here we tend to use portable misting sprays, quite labour and water intensive.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't think I'd have enough courage to grow grapes- a farmer can replant some crops but grapes aren't like that. Is the puppy coming soon ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll go get Tasha Tuesday morning and bring her home.

      Delete
  5. What a stressful thing it must be to make one's living at the whim of nature.

    I'm looking forward to Tuesday morning for you :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's an explanation of the différence between la gelée blanche and la gelée noire here.

      Delete
  6. In the newspaper this morning , I was reading about vineyards using the same heaters that you were showing 2 days ago.

    ReplyDelete

What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?