‘It is the earliest I have ever seen, with a very sudden spread of botrytis,’ consultant Denis Dubourdieu of Chateau Doisy Daëne in Barsac said. ‘I cannot recall a harvest that ended before October.’

At the neighbouring Château Climens harvest began on 8 September – earlier than the heatwave year of 2003, which started on 12 September.Botrytis developed rapidly, and pickings lasted until 28 September.

‘To give you an idea of how early the harvest was, last year we only started to pick on 28 September,’ manager Frederic Nivelle said.

Uneven ripening, typical of 2011 across Bordeaux, also affected Sauternes and Barsac. ‘It is the first time I have ever seen grape bunches that were so different,’ Nivelle said.

The challenge was to work fast because bunches were completely botrytised, but fragile, said Jean-Pierre Meslier of Chateau Raymond-Lafon in Sauternes.

‘We could not wait because any rain would have ruined them – and selection was essential,’ Meslier said.

Volumes will be average to above average. ‘It will not be like the high volumes of 2005 and 2009,’ said Meslier. www.decanter.com