After a lack of rainfall in 2022, a mild and wet winter replenished water reserves in the soil. The vine growth cycle started in good conditions in early April despite a cold snap that caused no damage. Mild weather and close-to-normal rainfall throughout spring stimulated vine growth, and in these favourable conditions flowering took place perfectly in late May, five days earlier than the average.
The season concluded with a new record in June, the hottest since we started keeping track of temperatures in 1962, confirming the overall trend for 2023. The vine cycle continued at a regular pace, several days ahead of the average. While successive heatwaves hit France in the height of summer, the Atlantic seaboard and the Bordeaux vineyard experienced only two very hot spells, in late August and early September, the latter marking the start of the harvest.
Unstable weather set in during picking as hot and sunny days alternated with stormy spells. The grapes continued to ripen with every favourable moment, while the rainfall both refined the skins and slowed the accumulation of sugar. The 2023 harvest ended in the last week of September in ideal weather and warm sunshine.