We called in to see Franck Breton on Thursday for a tasting with guests.
It’s a busy time at the moment as harvest is underway and we weren’t expecting Franck himself to be available to receive us but he decided not to pick on Thursday.
It was a good opportunity to get the lowdown from him as to how things are going.
He’s picked the grapes from around 1.7 hectares out of 8. They came in around 13° potential alcohol which is what’s he’s looking for when making his sparkling. He uses the natural sugar present in the wine for the ‘prise de mousse’ (the second fermentation in bottle) so a potential of around 13° allows him to chill the fermenting wine down when it’s around 12 or so which leaves enough natural sugar in the wine for the fermentation to finish and give a lovely gently mousse.
The 20mm of rain that came a couple of weeks ago was very welcome indeed but the rain we’ve had since has not been quite so well received.
His decision not to pick on Thursday was based around testing the potential of his other parcels. Many are still measuring a potential of 11° which is not what he’s looking for. It’s a question of hanging on for a few more days. Temperatures are due to rise again this weekend which will be welcome.
The danger is rot. Too much rain and it becomes an increasing risk at harvest time. Franck told us that he will wait for proper maturity and harvest even if there is some rot in the grapes. Better to pick when mature and sort before pressing than pick when the grapes are still grape and chaptalise in his opinion.
It’s personal. Every grower makes his or her own decisions. It seems strange in a year that has been so incredibly hot that some growers may add sugar to compensate for underripe grapes.
That won’t be happening at Domaine Franck Breton.
It’s these decisions that separate the good grower from the ordinary.
For more information about Franck, the domaine and his lovely wines see his website here.
