Shortly after estates in Burgundy announced the beginning of their harvest, the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux has said the outlook for Bordeaux 2011 is positive.

Speaking to The Drinks Business, union president Sylvie Cazes said vintners are expecting to begin picking grapes as early as September 8th - well before the usual date of around September 25th.

"We have one of the earliest harvests in our history," she told the publication.

"But not as early as we thought in June. We had a fabulous spring flowering and throughout the summer the crop developed perfectly well."

There have been no problems with rot and the relatively cool summer has balanced the maturation of the wines, she went on to say.

While she stressed it is too early to say whether the vintage will be another great one, Ms Cazes did say growers are "very happy" with the crop levels and freshness of the grapes.

It will be good news for fans of Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Le Pin, who are already looking forward to enjoying extraordinarily good vintages from 2009 and 2010.