Lucien Rocault Burgundy Climate Change
Across France and much of the world, climatic change is unfolding and forcing farmers and winemakers back to school. Class is in session and today’s lead professor is Nature herself. For grape growers, it is easy to recognize that global warming has been accelerating at a steady pace during the last decades of the 20th century.
Picture: Lucien overlooking St. Romain, Burgundy.
If there is one family who understands the severity of an unpredictable climate, it is the 18th generation grape growing family of Lucien Rocault. Lucien spent some time with La Cave at his family’s home in Saint Romain where the Rocault family have been farming grapes as far back at 1280. Lucien provides a first-hand account of his family’s experience and how they, along with many neighboring vintners, are learning to embrace the challenging conditions, adapt and listen closely to the vineyard.
The challenges faced by farmers in the warm, dry climate are unpredictability, accelerated growth and rapid ripening of acidity and grape sugar. Warming conditions ensure optimal flavor earlier in the growing season. Skilled winemakers like Lucien are having to pay closer attention than ever before, tasting fruit from the vine at multiple stages throughout the growing season to give an indication of intensity of ripening.
Lucien recounts that winemaking and grape growing are not an easy achievement, pointing to the recent challenges posed by the warming climate of the French countryside.
“France is dealing with unprecedented heat waves, tipping the mercury at over 40º Celsius. This begins to present a serious problem. Vineyards are suffering from overwhelming heat in some instance, particularly in 2003, 2015 and 2020”.
The end result of these heat spikes is when vines simply wither under the stress.
Picture: Lucien Rocault - Planting New Vines in St. Romain
“Our family is up-rooting dead vines that have started to show severe “deperissment” under these unseen growing conditions. From a winemaking standpoint, it forces us to rethink our growing strategy. Vines right across the Burgundy region face hydric stress, which is sadly becoming the norm. This blocks the vegetative cycle, imparting color changes and defoliation which halts sugar development or results in reduced fruit yield. Lucien says.
To complicate matters, France isn’t only experiencing hot and arid conditions. Among a string of warm vintages are years marked by devastating spring frost as recently as 2017 and damaging hail storms such as 2012.
To complicate matters, France isn’t only experiencing hot and arid conditions. Among a string of warm vintages are years marked by devastating spring frost as recently as 2017 and damaging hail storms such as 2012.
Picture: Burgundy Vineyard ‘Deprissement’ Leaf Discoloration
Like all good winemakers around the time of harvest, my family is in the vineyard tasting and sampling the grapes for flavor characteristics, acidity levels and to provide an indication of harvest date.
Lucien states that despite these challenges his family will continue farming sustainably while actively making environmentally conscious choices that promote conservation and most importantly continue this discussion.
My family has been growing grapes in Burgundy for eighteen generations. We will learn to adapt together, support our community as we grow and continue producing the best possible wine without compromising quality.”
Picture: 18th Generation Farmers. Winemaker Lucien and Son.