2017 Bordeaux Vintage

After a nearly spring-like December 2016, January 2017 turned cold and dry: the ISVV report calls it one of the coldest Januaries of the last 25 years, with rainfall 78 percent below normal. February and March were mild and wet, 1.5 to 3 C above normal, and bud break came early, with an average date of 28 March. April was sunny, very dry and warm, and the vines grew fast, which made the frost worse when it came. It froze on the nights of 20 and 21 April and again on 27 and 28 April. The shelter thermometer at Pessac-Leognan read -2.9 C on 27 April, and sensors dropped to -5 C in the Medoc and central Entre-Deux-Mers. The ISVV compared the damage to 1991, and in some cases even the secondary buds were destroyed. May brought a hot spell from 24 to 29 May with three straight days above 30 C, and in vineyards the frost missed, mid-flowering fell on 30 May, nearly two weeks earlier than in 2016, with fruit set rapid and even. June ranked as the third hottest since 1959, peaking in a heatwave above 36 C from 19 to 22 June, but storms at the start and end of the month made it wetter than normal. July and August were dry, with rainfall 54 and 47 percent below normal, yet left what the ISVV called an impression of autumnal freshness, apart from a very hot start and end to August. Mid-veraison came on 30 July, about ten days earlier than normal. Hail struck on 27 August near Podensac in the Graves. Gavin Quinney noted that March to September rainfall was similar to the 30-year average, even though the year as a whole was dry. From the start of September to the 16th it rained on average every other day, and Merlot picking had to be brought forward in places during the second ten days of the month to limit grey rot. Sun returned from 20 September, October was the sunniest since 1974, and the red harvest finished by the first week of October at the latest, two weeks earlier than 2016. The ISVV said the frost destroyed 30 to 50 percent of the Gironde crop.

• Cold, dry January, then mild, wet February and March; average bud break date 28 March
• Frost on the nights of 20-21 and 27-28 April, down to -5 C on sensors in the Medoc and central Entre-Deux-Mers
• Mid-flowering 30 May and mid-veraison 30 July in unfrosted vineyards, both ahead of 2016 and the long-term average
• Rain every other day through 16 September, then sun from 20 September and the sunniest October since 1974

Location decided almost everything in 2017. Gavin Quinney found Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Saint-Estephe generally untouched by the frost, with one or two exceptions, thanks to the influence of the Gironde estuary, and the ISVV likewise noted that some properties, particularly in the north of the Medoc, were not touched at all. Chateau Lagrange, the Saint-Julien classed growth furthest inland from the estuary, was one of the few in the northern Haut-Medoc with serious frost damage. Margaux, Pessac-Leognan and Sauternes saw serious damage, though the best parcels of most top names survived, and parts of Barsac were severely damaged. On the Right Bank, Saint-Emilion and its satellites saw some of the worst of the frost, with several Grands Crus Classes losing up to 100 percent, while the limestone slopes and plateau around the town fared well. Pomerol was hit in its lower areas, but the top vineyards on the plateau fared much better. Lalande de Pomerol and Fronsac also took a battering.

• Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Saint-Estephe: generally untouched by frost, per Quinney, with Cabernet Sauvignon looking especially good
• Margaux, Pessac-Leognan and Sauternes: serious frost damage, but the best parcels of most top names survived
• Saint-Emilion: some of the worst damage, yet minimal on the limestone slopes and plateau around the town
• Pomerol: lower areas hit, top plateau vineyards fared much better

The ISVV called 2017 a major success for Bordeaux dry whites, clearly better than 2015 and 2016: the Sauvignons ripe, lively and very aromatic, the Semillons from great terroirs showing their typical roundness. The sweet noble-rot wines impressed with richness and power. Reds from vineyards the frost spared were judged satisfactory to very good early in elevage: colored, intensely fruity and savory, though not as dense as in great vintages. Wines from frozen parcels were vegetal and dull, lacking flesh. The red grapes carried high malic acid and lower tannic potential than usual. Gavin Quinney judged the unfrosted wines potentially very good but not a blockbuster, and compared the likely quality to 2012 or perhaps 2014. Second-generation bunches that formed after the frost, he wrote, would make nothing more than second wines. At Chateau Cheval Blanc, Pierre Olivier Clouet told Decanter: "There will of course be fewer grapes after the frost, but we are expecting an extremely high quality vintage."

• Dry whites: a major success per the ISVV, clearly better than 2015 and 2016
• Sweet wines: rich and powerful, from quick, even noble rot development
• Reds from unfrosted vineyards: colored, intensely fruity, savory, less dense than great vintages
• Frost-hit parcels: vegetal, dull wines; second-generation fruit fit for no more than second wines, per Quinney

Generic AC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur, which Quinney noted account for almost half of Bordeaux's production and come mostly from the Entre-Deux-Mers and north of Libourne, lost around 40 percent, in line with the region, and quality was extremely variable. Many producers turned to thermovinification of reds, heating the must before fermentation to eliminate green or vegetal characters. By November 2017, Quinney reported bulk wine prices already up around 20 percent, while predicting that en primeur prices for leading chateaux were unlikely to follow after the big increases for 2015 and 2016.

• Generic Bordeaux losses in line with the roughly 40 percent regional figure
• Thermovinification widely used for reds to remove green or vegetal characters
• Bulk wine prices up around 20 percent by November 2017, per Quinney