It was very cold again this morning in the vineyards, with temperatures dropping to -3.7°C

It was very cold again this morning in the vineyards, with temperatures dropping to -3.7°C. We tried to fight back using candles in our two most advanced parcels of Merlot and Saint-Macaire. Still too early to assess the damage. Buds at the winter dormancy stage will certainly be spared. Those at the green tip stage will not survive two nights at these temperatures. Last year’s experience allowed us to save more than half of our parcels by pruning later. For the others, we will need to further improve our frost-protection strategies with a few small wind turbines and by testing the installation of winter fleece. The weather forecast is predicting more frost for tonight. Let us hope it is wrong. In any case, the cold has been harsher than forecast over the last two nights.