Deciding when to harvest the grapes is always a tough call for winemakers - especially when it comes to the low-yield, high-quality produce from Burgundy.

However, a new scientific study claims to have developed a simple solution for predicting the harvest dates months in advance, Inside Science reports.

A collaborative effort from the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) in Palisades, New York and the French meteorological service, Meteo-France, in Toulouse, carefully studied the recorded harvest dates of 700-years of Burgundy winemaking.

It was found that there is a close match between Pinot Noir grape harvest dates in Burgundy, sea surface temperature trends and the Western European climate.

The experts now believe that recording the latter two sets of information can accurately predict the former.

Yves Tourre from the LDEO said that harvest time quickly turns into "anarchy" in Burgundy, as vineyards have to make quick decisions about when to pick the grapes. Being able to predict when to harvest months in advance could therefore allow estates to be much better prepared.

What makes the Pinot Noir grape unique, and thus a good case study, is the fact that it is very sensitive and vulnerable to weather variability. This is why it is difficult to manage but can produce exceptional results.

"You can have people in Burgundy looking at the sea surface temperature to add another variable to determine the harvest," Inside Science reports Mr Tourre as saying.

He added that the new system may even improve the quality of the Burgundy, commenting: "Hopefully, people are going to enjoy Pinot Noir even more now."

While the Pinot Noir reds from while Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Domaine Leroy and Henri Jayer routinely take the headlines in Burgundy, the 2011 harvest could see the whites from Chablis steal some of the spotlight.

James Simpson, sales director for Maison Joseph Drouhin's UK representatives Pol Roger Portfolio, says the Chablis has impressed Frederic Drouhin.