May was a bad month for many Bordeaux winemakers. Two freak hailstorms, consisting of tennis ball sized chunks of ice, tore through vines ripping branches and destroying huge quantities of grape stocks.

Fifteen thousand hectares were affected, in an area 30km long and 10km wide, starting at the Graves region, south Bordeaux, across the Garonne River to the Entre Deux Mers, and over Dordogne into Saint Emilion.

One of the unfortunate vineyards affected was Chateau Bauduc, owned by English couple Gavin and Angela Quinney. Bauduc is a 75 acre vineyard making upmarket house wines for leading British chefs Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein.

In the attached video, Gavin takes us on a tour to view the damage severe hail like this can cause. Sadly, over 80% of the crop for 2009 was destroyed, including the fruit from the Les Trois Hectares plot, with Semillon vines dating back to 1947.

Our sympathy goes out to Gavin and Angela, who’s wines have continually flattered our customers, as well as ourselves and the world’s top wine critics. Hopefully, their fortunes can improve next year and they can start producing more fabulous wine.

To see our Chateau Bauduc range, click here, and for further reading on the winery, including rave reviews from Oz Clarke and Blake Creedon, click here.