With less than 33 mm of cumulative rainfall between June 9 and September 14, in Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2009 summer was extremely dry. It even exceeds the record set in 2007 (35mm) while the average of twenty years is 161mm. In contrast, the fall 2008 and winter 2009 were very wet, which helped to replenish soil moisture reserves before a particularly dry and hot summer.

Spring 2009 was also cooler and wetter than average (31 days of minimum temperatures between 10 and 15 ° C, against 30 in 2007, and 170 mm of rainfall between mid-April and mid-June). In contrast, the summer that followed was particularly hot, marked by 24 days where the maximum is exceeded at 35 ° C with 12 for the month of August (only 7 for all summer 2007). What rank this August 2nd month the warmest in 46 years (after 2003). Finally, from May to September, the skies of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was significantly sunnier than normal, this time finishing in 4th position behind the years 1967, 2006 and 1989 who holds the record. Finally, the heat balance of the year is slightly inflated compared to the multi-annual average. The north wind (Mistral) largely dominates the viticultural year, with some many months of consecutive days with strong to very strong gusts.