Quebec

By Véronique Rivest

Quebec winemakers and wine lovers were all hoping for a repeat of the 2005 and 2007 ideal growing seasons for the 2009 vintage. What they got couldn't have been more different. Late spring frosts at the end of May had mild to catastrophic consequences, depending on location. The Quebec City region suffered less, as budding there takes place significantly later. In the Eastern Townships and Lower Laurentians, those hardest hit lost more than half of their crop and, in a few extreme cases, growers lost up to 90 percent of their crop. And then, it started raining... and it kept raining. Some producers saw their crop reduced by up to 35 percent due to heavy rains during flowering. Late summer and early fall finally saw signs of relief, as the rains eased up in mid-August and September.