Africa is buying more and more of our Bordeaux wines, and premium cuvées in particular. The demand is there: hotels and restaurants of a certain standing, official visits, ministry receptions, expatriates and tourists staying in the country.
To diversify our customer base, and to cope with a difficult period on the trade side, one way of hoping to find importers in countries likely to enjoy our wines is to take up the pilgrim's staff.
This week, heading for Douala
So I will be in Cameroon, in Douala, taking part in an event organised by Business France: "Tastin'France". It is not the first one Sophie and I have attended, after all of Scandinavia, Greece and a few others. More to come.
A promotional film for Mille Roses
Mille Roses has just acquired a drone to capture beautiful shots from above. I would like to make several short films out of it, to promote the estate to our importers.
There was a time when I would perch in a metal crate strapped to the end of the telescopic mast of our forklift to photograph from above. And before that, though I was not yet working for myself, I used to fly over Mille Roses with a paramotor to snatch a few shots. Less risk and better results these days.
Our sales
A fine shipment of wine has left for Hong Kong, bound for a very select club of enthusiasts. The new label of our Haut-Médoc was part of it.
News from the vines
What a crazy vintage. That 2025 was ultra early was impressive enough. But with 2026 shaping up a week ahead, that means a harvest around 1 September.
We have just done the three-sided trimming of our vines, a sign that the bunches have grown enough not to risk being chopped by the blade. We usually reach that stage at the end of June. With the heat expected in the coming days and this summer, according to the forecasters, no leaf removal is on the cards, that much is clear.
Downy mildew is leaving us alone for the moment, but there is no question of lowering our guard before veraison, when the berries turn red. We are expecting that around 15 July this year.
News from the cellar
The real heat is on its way. I have just run a batch of sulphur analyses to check that my wines are ready to face a few extra degrees. Some lots are too low: they will need a few effervescent sulphur tablets to bring the active SO2 back up.
At Mille Roses, our photovoltaic panels and above all our heat pumps regulate the temperature of our barrel cellar, and even more so that of our bottles, so as not to go beyond 20 to 21 °C. A heavy investment, but such an important one.
