A rough year: Bordeaux Weather Summary 2017
2017 started off quite warm, with daily high and low temperatures above normal for many days in February, March and into early April (see the red shaded spikes for both high and low temperature). These warm temperatures led to bud breaks in early to mid March. Rainfall-wise, spring was pretty dry after a couple of heavier rains in early March.
Disaster struck in April as temperatures dropped below freezing late (light gray line) in the month and some locations may even have had another freezing event mid May! Despite the well below normal low temperatures, daytime high temperatures continued to be well above normal. Vines that survived the freeze should have bloomed in late May to early June, perhaps a bit earlier than normal.
Other than a bunch of rain at the start of July, summer was hot with average rainfall. This pattern did not hold for September. Most of September had well below average temperatures with places dropping near freezing in the middle of September (not again!). This is likely not good for vines that budded after the spring freezes.
All in all, it was a harsh year to be a grape grower in Bordeaux. Early warm temperatures got the vines going and then late spring freezes damaged those early buds. Growers that were hoping for a later second bud break and a delayed harvest are getting whacked again in the fall with unseasonable cold temperatures.
If you’d like to see weather analyses for other wine growing regions around the world, or other years, just let me know and I’ll run them.
