Clos Cibonne Harvest Notes 2011

2011 was a fairly windy year overall, but the end result was great fruit maturity. In July, the weather was relatively chilly on the Mediterranean coast of Provence, with some rain. But then August and September were beautifully warm and sunny, providing perfect ripening conditions.

The coastal area was not particularly affected by an especially warm spring, as much of the rest of France was, due to the oceanic influence which keeps conditions more stable and predictable. As such, flowering and budding occurred more or less as normal, not 2 or 3 weeks in advance as in the rest of the country.

The harvest took about 3 weeks this year, starting on August 23rd and ending on September 9th, with a team of 18 pickers. At Clos Cibonne, the grapes are harvested sequentially for the different cuvées: the grapes for the Cuvée Tendance are picked first, the grapes for Cuvée Tradition second, and the grapes for Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes last. Over the course of 3 weeks, that leads to increasing maturity for the grapes that go into the higher-end cuvées.