Snow Falls in Provence’s Southern Rhône Valley

Henri Bungener, proprietor of Le Clos de Caveau in the Vacqueyras appellation of the Rhône Valley wine region, reported that 6 inches of snow fell on his vineyard overnight on Tuesday.

“It’s good for the grapes,” Bungener said, “The bugs don’t like the cold.”

“I’m relieved [as] last year we did not hit freezing temperatures…[and] we suffered a lot because of it,” referring to the catastrophic losses in olive harvests in both France and Italy.

“The fruit fly got in [the olives] and they fell to the ground way before being eatable,” Bungener said, “but we’ll be okay now.”
It’s a beautiful sight and a striking contrast to the sweltering June day when Pamela O’Neill and I visited Le Clos de Caveau this past summer. It was beautiful then, too.

The snow won’t last long as the weather forecast calls for temperatures climbing into the mid-40°s (4.5°C) this weekend…though it may still feel cold as it sounds like the Mistral winds are whipping up.

-SNM

Photo by Henri Bungener