Les dates de vendange à Beaune (1371-2010). Analyse et données d'une nouvelle série vendémiologique

Abstract

International audienceThe vineyard harvest dates series in Dijon was previously the longest known series of this kind in the historic documentation (1385-1906). Since the nineteenth century, it has been used as one of the major sources for historic climatology. In a recent paper, we have reviewed this data in the city archives of Dijon in order to clean up several errors in the series and to criticize it regarding the social context of the harvest (Revue Historique, 657, Jan. 2011). Following this paper, this second paper proposes the elaboration of a totally new Burgundian harvest series for the city of Beaune for the period between 1371 and 2010. It now constitutes the longest vineyard harvest dates series in the world. Located c. 40 km South of Dijon, the vineyard of Beaune has been recognized as a very high quality one since the end of the Middle Ages. Thus, a comparative study with the harvest practices in Dijon shows that, in the long term, a constant search for the right maturity has greatly influenced the official decision to begin the harvest here. Social determinisms seem therefore to have been less important in Beaune than in Dijon, and the “Beaune” series is certainly more faithful for a climatologic analysis. Also, the correlation coefficient (R) between the harvest dates and the French April to August temperatures series between 1676 and 1906 is better in Beaune (R=0.67) than in Dijon (R=0.63). The main advantage of this new series is to finally give some data for just one location from the 14th century to now. Thus, ancient and very recent data can be compared without problem. It’s interesting to see, regarding the early dates, that the 1540–1550’s present all the records with three very early years harvested in August (1540, 1556 and 1559). In comparison the 1990’s-2000’s present just one year of this kind (2003). Beyond that, the harvest of 1556 was begun earlier (August 16) than in 2003 (August 19). The “Beaune” series may be a precedent for the 1990’s and 2000’s. A “very good mid-16th century” Burgundy?Cet article propose la reconstitution d’une nouvelle série inédite de bans de vendange bourguignons, correspondant à la ville de Beaune de 1371 à 2010. Elle est désormais la plus longue série constituée en Europe et vient compléter les données déjà connues de la série « Dijon » (1385-1906). À la tête d’un vignoble considéré comme plus prestigieux depuis la fin du Moyen Âge, une analyse comparative des deux séries suggère que les pratiques de récolte furent plus constantes à Beaune sur le temps long quant à la recherche de la bonne maturité des fruits. Partant, l’influence du facteur social sur la variation des dates de récoltes y semble légèrement moindre, ce que confirme un meilleur coefficient de corrélation entre ces dates de vendange et les températures franciliennes d’avril à septembre depuis 1676.Comme son analogue dijonnaise, cette nouvelle série transcrit assez fidèlement les pulsations connues de l’histoire du climat depuis la fin du xive siècle. Disposant enfin de chiffres véritablement...

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