June review, le Tour de France and a photo journal
Posted by Gavin Quinney on 30th Jun 2021
It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through 2021. June is a hectic month in the vineyard (no, really) and we’ll try and give you a flavour of that with a photo journal below.
France might have bombed out of the Euros - congrats to our friends in Switzerland - but keep an eye out for the overhead shots of Bauduc as the Tour de France passes by the end of our road on the afternoon of Friday 16 July.
And while it may not be that summery just now, it’ll surely improve for enjoying our Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc – both recently chosen for the Bordeaux Hot 50 Selection for 2021. Do use the temporary loyalty code PenaltyShootout for 10% off any online orders until 19 July.
There's enough time to get some wine in before the weekend (in England and Wales) and the quarter finals. Enjoy the game later, if you're watching.
All the best
Gavin & Angela Quinney
PS To view just the images in 'photo albums', click here.'
Tour de France passes Bauduc, 16 July
Saint-Émilion, which is half an hour away from us, will be a lot busier than this for the weekend of 17 July.
The day before, the tour goes past the end of our road in Créon.
The tour is scheduled to go up the D13, on the right, before turning left onto the D671 and past the end of Rue Bauduc. The vineyards, field and woods of Bauduc below the town might show up on the shots from above. ‘So that’s where the wine comes from.’ We are currently planning to arrange enough of our own hail bales to spell ‘BAUDUC’ in front of the Château, though it’s just a daft idea at the mo.
Bordeaux Hot 50
Rhubarb, rhubarb. We’re delighted that our Château Bauduc Rosé 2020 and Sauvignon Blanc 2020 have been picked for the Hot 50 Bordeaux Selection for 2021.
Château Bauduc Sauvignon Blanc 2020
“Crisp, fresh, vibrant and intense with mouth-watering lime-scented fruit and a long, creamy finish. Top class.”
Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine.
Château Bauduc Rosé 2020
“Rhubarb, strawberry, fresh, most appealing. Easy drinking, dry style with a refreshing note of white pepper on the finish.”
Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine.
The Hot 50 Bordeaux Selection were chosen by a panel of experts and “features accessible and outstanding value wines priced between £6-£25, demonstrating that not all wine from Bordeaux comes with a hefty price-tag… with only the very best making the cut.”
Carry on Rosé
To celebrate the Tour de France on 16 July, the relaxation of Covid restrictions in the UK a few days later, and the inclusion of our Rosé in the Bordeaux Hot 50, we’re carrying on with our fabulous Rosé offer for 24 bottles or more in the UK until 19 July. It’s a pound a bottle off when you order two dozen, which can be mixed. In England and Wales, that’s a smidge over a tenner a bottle, all in, including duty, delivery and VAT.
Weddings at last
We’re always chuffed to have our wine chosen for weddings and many congratulations to Ollie and Hen on finally being able to celebrate theirs last weekend. We trust there was enough wine. Likewise to Olly and Charlotte next weekend - and they too have had to wait a really long time.
In some cases, wedding stashes were originally bought for collection in France, before (a) weddings were put on hold, (b) the travel restrictions with Covid and (c) post-Brexit rules regarding ‘duty-free’ allowances.
It’s been fairly easy for us to switch from arranging a collection in Calais to delivering in the UK via London City Bond, even if the bill with UK excise duty is quite a bit higher. Please note that the UK Government limit since 1 Jan 2021 for bringing wine into Great Britain without paying UK duty – if travelling with the goods – is now 24 bottles of still wine and 12 bottles of sparkling wine – a huge reduction from the previous allowance of an unlimited amount of wine. (We’ve had to close our Calais collection point.)
We are always happy to quote for weddings in the UK or France. Far better that people first catch a glimpse of the Château Bauduc label at such a happy occasion than on a supermarket shelf, and for our wine to play a special part on such an important day.
Email team@bauduc.com
Crémant with a new coiffe
Speaking of weddings and celebrations, our new Crémant de Bordeaux, Blanc de Blancs 2018 has just arrived in the UK – sporting a new Bauduc ‘coiffe‘. That’s the capsule over the cork. The traditional method sparkling wine deserves its own photo journal in the near future.
June in the vineyard – a photo journal
Here’s a photo of the vines on the first day of the month. There’s quite a contrast with the picture at the top of the missive, taken three weeks later.
Glorious weather for the first couple of weeks. Here are the locals getting revved up for the Tour de France.
June is a lovely month in the vineyard as everything goes into overdrive. 7 June.
The start of the flowering. Bees are welcome though the vines are self-pollinating. 1 June, Merlot.
Goose and Merlot at the start of flowering, two weeks later than last year. 1 June.
Margaux and Merlot during the floraison (flowering), 7 June.
Margaux has had her summer trim and the grapes are now formed. Merlot, 24 June.
The different varieties. Merlot with Margaux on the left, Cabernet Sauvignon on the right. 24 June and 20 June, respectively.
Sémillon, on the left, Sauvignon Blanc with Pavie on the right. 20 June and 26 June – the Sauvignon has come on a bundle. This stage is called ‘petits pois’.
Here’s the Sauvignon Blanc from another angle, in the parcel called ‘Château’. 26 June.
Nelly and Sandra lifting the branches between the training wires in an older block, called Sauvignon Montuard. 24 June.
This was a block that had suffered in parts due to the April frost, so every bunch is welcome. 24 June.
Sandra and Nelly lifting the wider spaced Sauvignon Blanc on Montuard, while Hafid’s team do the same for the Sauvignon near the winery.
A family affair with Nelly’s daughters Lucie and Marie. This is Sauvignon in the block we call Dageneau.
The vines don’t line up in neat, trimmed rows all by themselves. These young and vigorous Merlot (we planted this lot in 2015) produce grapes for the Rosé.
A key reason for getting the branches lifted up between the training wires is so that we can get in and treat the vines. From mid June, we’ve had a number of storms and heavy rain.
Quite a contrast in how the vines looked at the end of May.
You have to treat the vineyard to protect against mildew, whether you use organic treatments like copper or sulphur, or systemic products. Having two tractors and sprayers at the same time allows us to protect the whole vineyard in a day.
Sauvignon Blanc in the foreground, and on the slope beyond. The mix of rain and sun this month has turned out just fine for now.
Sauvignon Blanc always seems to be more upright at this stage.
A pastoral scene at the foot of the vines.
Mowing the lawn.
Rain, sun and humidity lead to tasty mushrooms in the woods. Nelly knows the best spots for the girolles.
Ah, nature, and the joy of being surrounded by woods. The deer have been doing rather too much damage in some corners of the vineyard.
And the deer have eaten the bloody roses surrounding the pond.
We’ve taken the opportunity to do a little ‘maintenance’ work at the château. Repairing the terrace is just a part of it.
Enjoy the month ahead.