Not a hopeful year to this point.

Although at this moment, the last Sunday of July 2008, it seems better. Sitting on my terrace, writing this article the outside temperatures is around 27° Celsius.

Day temperatures in January and February rose from 10 to 15°, on the terraces of Burnot even up to 20° Celsius ending the winter quietness. The plants were setting themselves for the opening of the buds.

Extreme cold nights do not just chill the blood in the veins of the vintner, but also the juice flows of the wine plant.

As vintner you are in your vineyards daily and you can feel the tension rise, especially when due to the weather conditions frost damage can occur. It was not until the end of April that we knew that everything was alright.

If frost hits in a vineyard and the buds are already opened, it means no grapes and harvest that year, but also no new plant that can be prepared for the year after. Hardly any wine for two long years.

The buds opened a month later than in 2007. After that it rained so much during May and June that you almost could see the plants grow. During and after blossoming it rained a lot and it was relatively cold.

Now, when the good weather returned, it seemed that the plant had not suffered at all. The wine plant looks to be very flexible with an enormous recovering power.

The vineyards look good and we have very high expectations.

What sort of material will I get in the cellar and what sort of wines can I make of that?

Does the wine plant feel anything of my passion??

who knows ......................