Sunday 7 November 2010
Chardonnay is always the first to ripen, so at the opening of the vendange (grape harvest) on the 20th September, 24 vendengeurs descended upon “Brulons” to commence the 2010 harvest, which promises to be a most successful vintage.
This is now our 6th vintage in France, since we left Mears Ashby in early in 2004. We began as novices, trying to keep to the pace of our French colleagues, and without scattering loose grapes on the ground. For us, simultaneously talking and picking were impossible, you can do one or the other we thought. Not so for Francoise, Gabby, Georgette and the other “Parents” as they are known. “Les Parents” are those who are very experienced and generally older than most, age commands respect here. Not only are they retired by several years, they are faster and more accurate than ”les jeunes” – they can gossip full tilt at the same time!
However since we have been here, each year sees a change of roll-call for the vendangeurs. Simon, Moneau, and Polo and many others have decided to take retirement more seriously and retire! Hence we have rapidly become to be among the most experienced and relied upon members of the team, sometimes guiding our newer colleagues in the right direction. The British telling the French what to do – who would have thought it! No it’s not really like that, it is about teamwork and pulling together, and at the end of it all satisfaction and ultimately enjoying the fruits of our labours.
The vendange is the most frantic and pressured of all the seasonal tasks when working in the vines. Weather plays an extremely important part – as with any agricultural activity. The development, quality and quantity are generally all dictated by factors beyond the control of the viticulteurs, making the harvest a tense time. Too little rain leading up to the harvest can be equally as damaging as a deluge during the picking.
A lot of harvesting is done by machine these days – but the more quality conscious are using teams of hand-pickers to gather the more critical grapes ensuring the best possible quality in the finished wine. Therefore after manual picking of the Chardonnay comes the Sauvignon Blanc, followed by Grolleau and Gamay for the rosé wines, the Cabernets – both Sauvignon and Franc and finally the most revered grape of the Anjou – Chenin Blanc. The latter producing some of the most serious and long lived sweet wines of France.
The Anjou region is relatively unknown in the UK in respect of her wines, but I can promise you wines of excellent quality and amazing value for money when compared to those more familiar regions which command ever increasing prices.
This is now our 6th vintage in France, since we left Mears Ashby in early in 2004. We began as novices, trying to keep to the pace of our French colleagues, and without scattering loose grapes on the ground. For us, simultaneously talking and picking were impossible, you can do one or the other we thought. Not so for Francoise, Gabby, Georgette and the other “Parents” as they are known. “Les Parents” are those who are very experienced and generally older than most, age commands respect here. Not only are they retired by several years, they are faster and more accurate than ”les jeunes” – they can gossip full tilt at the same time!
However since we have been here, each year sees a change of roll-call for the vendangeurs. Simon, Moneau, and Polo and many others have decided to take retirement more seriously and retire! Hence we have rapidly become to be among the most experienced and relied upon members of the team, sometimes guiding our newer colleagues in the right direction. The British telling the French what to do – who would have thought it! No it’s not really like that, it is about teamwork and pulling together, and at the end of it all satisfaction and ultimately enjoying the fruits of our labours.
The vendange is the most frantic and pressured of all the seasonal tasks when working in the vines. Weather plays an extremely important part – as with any agricultural activity. The development, quality and quantity are generally all dictated by factors beyond the control of the viticulteurs, making the harvest a tense time. Too little rain leading up to the harvest can be equally as damaging as a deluge during the picking.
A lot of harvesting is done by machine these days – but the more quality conscious are using teams of hand-pickers to gather the more critical grapes ensuring the best possible quality in the finished wine. Therefore after manual picking of the Chardonnay comes the Sauvignon Blanc, followed by Grolleau and Gamay for the rosé wines, the Cabernets – both Sauvignon and Franc and finally the most revered grape of the Anjou – Chenin Blanc. The latter producing some of the most serious and long lived sweet wines of France.
The Anjou region is relatively unknown in the UK in respect of her wines, but I can promise you wines of excellent quality and amazing value for money when compared to those more familiar regions which command ever increasing prices.
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