Harvest de Noel

Et voila!  Enfin!  We have finally (on the 20th of December) harvested what was left of the Grenache gris.  We only harvested 10 cases of what looked like sultanas, the rest was either too dry or had been eaten by the wild boar!  We are definitely the last people to harvest in the village but we managed to squeeze out 20 litres of super concentrated grape juice that tasted sweeter than honey.

We borrowed an old fashioned press from Jaqueline and pressed 3 times.  The juice is now preciously stored in a glass bonbonne and we are waiting for fermentation to start.  The style will be a deliciously sweet wine the likes of which have never been seen before.

100 things to do with a vat

Hectic week last week, bringing in the Carignan destalking and putting into vat and trying to prove that I can do it all by myself.  I managed but was completely epuised by the weekend.  Also the pump broke down, I got red grapes floating in the Muscat (still not sure how), broke a themometer, dented the new stainless steel tank and some vicious vigneron sabotaged John Marks vines.  But the harvest is drawing to a fin, the pickers have picked and peace has returned to the vatican.  That is outside the vats! 

Inside a vat in the vatican

How to harvest

All you need to become a professional looking picker is a pair of secateurs (orange is a good colour) a pile of boxes which will hold no more than 15 kg of grapes each, a pair of shorts, scruffy tee shirt and sensible shoes.  A hat is good too. Wait for it to get light, then take the track out of Maury up to Domaine Jones and start snipping away. Make sure the grapes don't get crushed and there are no leaves in the boxes. Mutter 'aie, aie mon dos', stop for a gauloise and a coffee from time to time and when you have filled up 80 cases put them in the back of the white Renault van and drive them carefully back to the Vatican.  Pick the Muscat first, followed a week later by the Grenache Gris, and then a fortnight later the red Grenache noir and Carignan.  Just for fun leave some Grenache Gris to make a delicious late harvest sweet wine.

Harvest helpers

Un grand merci to my Mum and Uncle, who flew in from Ashby de la Zouch to help with the harvest.  They were game for it all - up at 6 and out harvesting the grenache noir, back to the Vatican to destalk and get the grapes into the vat and out again to harvest. We picked a total of 2000 kg with the help of the vendangeurs from La Roque (even more remote than Tuchan).  They were the experienced turbo team but they are men of the Terre and kill pigs and make black pudding.  My Mum was a star though and my Uncle captured these treasured moments on film.