As I always make a great point of emphasizing, truffles are completely unpredictable. However, it would be difficult to find a better year in terms of weather than 2014. The winter was mild and we had a beautiful warm spring. Truffles start to form in April/May and conditions were perfect for a positive start to growth. Then came “summer”. Terrible! Cool, wet with loads of rain in July and August, but perfect for truffles which are growing fastest at that time and need moisture. Next came our Indian Summer. A wonderful hot and dry couple of months which rescued the vignerons from what could have been a pretty poor year. At the very end of October we, and the trees, were still basking in 28° heat.

In addition to the perfect weather we also took the advice of two local experts and harrowed the truffière in the spring to a depth of two to three centimetres to reduce compaction. This allows the rain to reach the tree roots and the truffles, and also lightens the soil by incorporating dead leaves and weeds. There are distinct signs of a big brûlée at the top of column L.

We aim to hunt in January and once again welcome Christelle and her two dogs, Taora and Horphée, the former of whom is a past Champion of France, as well as Claude with his dog, Corso.

You can find a picture of the brûlée on the "Newsletters" page.

A brûlée?