The good weather is still with us despite some cooler temperatures. Most of the Châteauneuf du Pape Syrah is now in tanks. Today we picked some of the early ripened Grenache at Beaucastel and our plot just under the castle of Châteauneuf that we use for the Perrin & Fils Les Sinards. We are continuing harvest in Cairanne and we have finally started harvest in Vacqueyras by picking some Syrah. Despite a busy week, we will be harvesting this weekend!

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As every day, the first thing we do in the morning, is check the over night evolution of the fermentations in each tank.

This photo shows us checking one of the Syrah fermenters that was harvested last week. The reading at 7.15 this morning was a density of 1020 and a temperature of 24°C.

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The weather forecast for the next few days is still excellent which makes us think that we shouldn't hurry. Today we are harvesting the Clairette and the Grenache noir from the Coudoulet.

;At Perrin & Fils, we have decided to send a small team to pick the Grenache for our Perrin & Fils Les Sinards, AOC Châteauneuf du Pape while another team will go to Cairanne to pick the Syrah. See the photo of the beautiful village of Cairanne.

Today we continued to pick the Syrahs at Beauacstel that we had started last week for our Chateauneuf du Pape.

At the same time another team went to the North in Vacqueyras to harvest some Syrahs for our Perrin & Fils "les Christins".

We usually start South and head to North following the ripeness and the differences of temperatures.

2008 started off badly. We had a lot of rain during the summer and even at the beginning of September.

Mildiou was controlled but we were worried that we would get more rain but then the Mistral started to blow on the 11th September. It was a very strong Mistral and it blew for 5 days with an average of 35-40km/hr and gusts of 80km/hr.

This kind of weather that makes winemakers happy but drives holidaymakers crazy dried out the ground and the grapes very quickly and saved the first week of the harvest, see detail bellow.

It is too soon to come to any kind of conclusion on the vintage but if the weather remains stable we shall be producing some lovely wines. The yields will be low due to the wet weather we had at the moment of the flowering of some of the varietals.

Monday Sept. 15th

The mistral blew all weekend and is still strong today.
Temperatures are falling : 14°C in the morning : 21°C in the afternoon
These are ideal temperatures for harvesting the whites and the reds before fermentation
We started at 8am today with a small team of harvesters:
- Syrah from Coudoulet
- Grenache from Laudun (North East of Châteauneuf du Pape) for our Perrin Réserve, AOC Côtes du Rhône

Tuesday Sept. 16th

The Mistral is still blowing! and the temperatures are identical to yesterday.

- We finished harvesting the Syrah from Coudoulet
- We then followed the day with the Old Vines of Roussanne (3 hectares) and some slightly younger ones for our traditionnal Château de Beaucastel White.

- Finally we ended the day harvesting the small plot that we farm next to the Castle in Châteauneuf du Pape. These grapes are used in Les Sinards blanc, Perrin & Fils, AOC Châteauneuf du Pape.

Wednesday Sept.17

The intensity of the Mistral has reduced.
We decided to harvest part of the Grenache from Coudoulet that has matured

Thursday Sept. 18

Today the wind has stopped, the sky is cloudy but it's not raining.

The temperatures are seasonal with 23°C in the afternoon

We decided first thing this morning to finish the plots of Château de Beaucastel White: Grenache blanc, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Picardan and the younger Roussanne.

We also started harvesting the Syrah at Beaucastel for the Châteauneuf du Pape.

Pick up your secateurs, harvest has started!

As every year, we started harvest with some whites. A small team of harvesters have been picking the Viognier from Coudoulet since Wednesday.

It rained a bit last night so we had to stop harvesting today.

Thankfully the Mistral has been blowing strong since this morning, as is it often does after rain and has blown all the clouds away and is drying out the grapes.

This weekend we shall be resting!

See you Monday!

"Very racy, with lots of red and black currant fruit backed by a great graphite spine. Offers nice hints of licorice, spice and iron on the finish."

Drink now through 2012 –JM

Smart Buys. 91 points, WineSpectator June 15, 2008

"Ripe, rich and racy Rhône red, with an ample core of black currant, fig paste, hoisin sauce and graphite, backed by dark coffee, mesquite and mineral notes on the long, structured finish."

Drink now through 2011.—J.M.

Smart Buys. 91 points, WineSpectator Sept.30, 2008

"Dark and smoky, with alluring cocoa powder, mesquite and bacon fat notes leading the way for rich black currant, melted licorice and espresso. The long, smoldering finish shows a nice wild side. Impressive now, but better with some cellaring. Grenache and Syrah."

Drink now through 2014.—J.M.

Highly Recommended. 93 points, WineSpectator Sept.30, 2008

Primium Familiae Vini has just conducted its annual meeting and has appointed Marc Perrin as its new president for one year.
All the details are available on PFV website.

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all the details are here.

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