A month in wine
All the important issues affecting you across the globe, compiled by Richard Woodard
Burgundy grape thefts; Angélus libel action; Mary Novak
A SURGE in the number of grape thefts is adding further challenges to Burgundy’s difficult 2016 vintage – already impacted by a combination of frost and hail.
At least four complaints of grape theft had been registered with the police in Beaune by early October – a record for the region – with winemakers throughout the Côte d’Or reporting incidents.
Meanwhile, the severely reduced yields this year have forced six prominent producers to pool their grapes and produce a joint bottling of Montrachet grand Cru.
The six – Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Domaine Leflaive, Domaine guy Amiot et Fils, Domaine LamyPillot and Domaine Fleurot Larose – share 1.25 hectares of the 7.9ha grand cru, but none has enough grapes individually to fill a single barrel.
Instead the grapes have all been sold to Leflaive, which will vinify and age the wine – probably two 228-litre barrels, giving about 600 bottles in total – to be shared equally among the producers.
However, the idea, which came from Dominique Lafon and DRC’s Aubert de Villaine, faces legal hurdles as rules currently ban estates from sharing grapes.
Meanwhile, Monthélie-based producer Eric Boussey reported the theft of half a barrel’s-worth of grapes from his vineyards. ‘This year was already difficult, as we lost half our potential harvest because of the devastating frost in April, so we did not need this,’ he said. ‘It is revolting.’
He added that domaines in Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault had also reported thefts to police, including Meursault-based Domaine Latour-giraud, which lost the equivalent of 1,200 bottles of wine.
The problem has been played down by Burgundy wine bureau the BIVB, which suggested some of the ‘thefts’ may have been accidental, thanks to Burgundy’s notoriously complicated patchwork of vineyards.
‘The problem is that everyone is scared about stolen grapes, so now you have surveillance being set up in some areas, which could give ideas to more people to steal grapes,’ said BIVB vice-chairman Claude Chevalier.
Burgundy’s weather-hit 2016 grape harvest is likely to be 20% to 27% down on 2015, according to BIVB estimates at the time of writing.