Temperatures are reaching peeks in South of France, the summer promises to be hot. At Domaine Clos du Caillou the time of veraison has come.
What is veraison? ( ‘véraison’ in french)
The ‘véraison’ is the time when the seeds of grapes change color and thus take their final shade of color. We consider that this stage is finished when half of seeds have changed color (see picture). It is due to the migration of sugars of the vine to the grape seeds.
The acidity decreases, then the tannins, dyestuffs, aromatics and sugars increase till full maturity of the grapes. The winemaker is particularly carefull to this vegetative stage because it is the first information for the time of harvest. Indeed, the harvest generally begins about 35 days after the ‘véraison’.
At this final stage of the growth vine the pores of grapes close, preventing mildew (mildiou) et and powdery mildew (l’oïdium ) from entering the grapes. Then vine treatement is no longer necessary until the harvest.