Very early on the morning of Monday 17 June a brief but devastating hailstorm ripped through the wine appellation of Vouvray. Here at Loire Valley Time Travel we often take clients to this area because we believe the wines are high quality and exceptionally good value.
We've been impressed that despite the damage, which has lead to some wineries losing 80% of their crop, the 180 winemakers that operate in the area are working together to mitigate the effects. Some of the worst affected will lose whole parcels of vines that have been shredded and bruised by hailstones as big as hen's eggs. The continuing warm and wet weather will mean that extreme vigilance on the part of the vine masters will be necessary if a major outbreak of fungal diseases is to be avoided.
A Vouvray vineyard before the storm.
We will continue to support the Vouvray winemakers and we hope that our clients will too. We already know that the quantity of Vouvray wine from the 2013 vintage will be much reduced, but the winemakers are only briefly daunted. Their naturally optimistic outlook doesn't stay suppressed for very long and they are already musing on the possibility that the quality could still be exceptional. If you would like to visit a fine winery in a unique location,
email us and we will arrange for you to meet the characterful winemakers who continue to make wonderful wine no matter what the weather throws at them.
