‘Sweat, dirt and grape juice – it’s incredibly rewarding’: Volunteer harvester on a vineyard in France | France holidays
RHe’s smuggled grapes, and turns the meditation pose into a full-body workout. I plant my legs firmly, resting on a branch crushing with my left hand as my right cuts me off from a bunch of grapes. Locals claim that the loud false winds make you crazy, which I can appreciate because every gust puffs my lips and dries out my eyes.
I’m in Domaine Rouge-bleuan organic vineyard in the Cotes du Rhone wine region in the south of France. I volunteered for Les vendangan autumn grape harvest where back work is imbued with camaraderie.
Participating in this time-honored tradition has long been a dream of mine, a Francophile and lifelong food writer. So, in 2017, eager to understand more about winemaking beyond the stool, I joined the Motley Fool crew, trading agonizing arms and growers for a hands-on course in viticulture and vinification. I expected to get an ontological education. I didn’t expect how difficult the choice would be — nor how satisfying it would feel to accomplish something big together. a lot Vendanger Check back for more information. I have been back almost every year since my first harvest, and have become friends with the owners of Domaine Rouge-Bleu.
France is one of Leading wine producers around the worldpouring 4.78 billion liters of wine into the market every year. About 59,000 winemakers manage 789,000 hectares (about 2 m2 acres) of vineyards. That’s a lot of grapes to choose. Since the Greeks first planted vines in France in the 6th century BC, Raisins (Grapes) were harvested by hand. Machines arrived in the 1960s for speed and cost efficiency. yet 30%-40% from French wineries It still maintains the traditional Vendors at main (Hand-selected harvest).
Why would a winemaker choose a method that costs more time and money? Popular areas such as Champagne It is required to do this for delivery of collections To the house of sound press. The grapes can grow too close to allow the machine to pass. Some winemakers believe that machines harm the vines and grapes. “You get better quality by hand because you’re only picking good grapes, with no leaves, vines or oil from the machine,” says Thomas Bertrand, who shares Domaine Rouge Bleu with his Australian partner Caroline Jones.
The hard-working couple illustrates the realities of winemaking that are far from the magic of Bordeaux Chateau. They bring in volunteers to cut costs. However, harvesting volunteers are a legal minefield in France. The government insists winemakers pay the harvest, so some offer space and a board in lieu of wages, although many refrain from doing this to avoid any problems. Many winemakers who wish to acknowledge volunteers are recognized, because collective harvesting has been part of winemaking heritage for centuries. says France Breton, who welcomes volunteer harvesters in Domaine Breton In Loire.
For example, Vignerons Indépendants de France runs Find out more about this day (one-day harvester) throughout France from late August to early October. “It’s great for wine tourism because so many want to participate,” says Jean-Marie Fabry, president of the association. You can also find opportunities on volunteer sites such as WWOOF. I contacted direct wineries via introductions by a local wine bar, and eventually found Domaine Rouge-bleu through its previous owner, whose wife runs French word of the day Blog.
Domaine Rouge-Bleu is located in Sainte-Cécile-Les-Vignes, a small town of 2,900 off the tourist track, despite its location in Provence. Appropriate name of the city – Vignes It is a vineyard-flat landscape covered in networks of vineyards, with Mont Ventoux, the legendary Tour de France, looming in the distance. At the end of a picturesque lane lined with olive trees, a 17th-century farmhouse is home to Thomas, Caroline and her daughter. In harvest season, it swells with Vendanger. I hit the jackpot in the room with Hannah, a Brit who works in a wine shop. Our team of 16 people hails from France, the UK, Ireland, Australia, the US and my home country.
Every morning, the smell of coffee wakes us up before 7am. We don’t take clothes you don’t mind getting dirty – grape juice stains are stubborn. Despite the heat, we wear thick socks under our shoes to avoid burdens on our ankles. Thomas gives us the lay of the land on day one. The first rule of picking is to be gentle with the grapes. Processing them can prematurely break down their skins, causing oxidation that negatively affects aromas and flavors.
“We should also look at Oidium, a mildew, because ‘escaping grapes makes escape wine,’” says Thomas. When I find a snail on the grapes, I joke: “That’s why the wine isn’t vegan.” (Graduates fluently in English) The cuts are so prevalent that I’ve become the group’s unofficial nurse, who carries the plasters in the pompeg. We work in pairs, blocking the vines to ensure they don’t Leave any group. Breaking up the monotony, conversation inevitably flows, sometimes deepened by the thick vines that screen our faces like natural screens. Everyone has a story – healing from a breakup or breaking free from a corporate job.
This sociability is an antidote to hard work: the constant preaching of muscles I never knew I had; The unrelenting vulgar sun and hot wind. My skin and clothes are sticky with sweat, dirt, and grape juice, my nails are permanently coated purple. However, knowing our collective efforts will be bottled into delicious wine is incredibly rewarding. “There’s no sense of people coming together for a common mission,” Hanna says.
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What’s surprising to me is that I find solace in repetition. As a freelancer who is likely to run and create my own business, I value having specific tasks; You are told what to do; Simple sniper dances, distances, repeat. In addition, the monotony is broken by the diverse terrain.
terroirThe buzzword that rolls off the tongues of Sommeliers, wine refers to the soil, climate and sunlight that give wine grapes their distinctive character. I have a collision course on 12 hectares in Rouge-Bleu planted with 21 grape varieties. Dropped like old ladies, 115-year-old Grenache Goblet vines are planted in an ancient riverbed of large white stones. While these retain heat Predominant Help the Grenache reach peak ripeness, and its uneven surface is torture—like trying to balance in a ball pit. Trellized Syrah is easier to choose, and its spreading branches welcome us with open arms to collect their purple gems.
Once we’ve filled the trailer—adorned with a “In Grenache We Trust” sticker—we head back to the winery. This entails various exercises – maneuvering hoses and brackets, loading the press, and shoveling bunches of grapes into the tank. “We preserve the stems to reduce heat buildup during fermentation, which leads to bitter flavors we don’t want,” says Carolyn. I appreciate her red wines more with this knowledge. My favorite task is climbing through the press to extract every last drop of juice.
The drudgery of an end-of-day toast is reduced with craft beer from an Alpine brewery. “It takes a lot of beer to make good wine,” is a common harvest saying that Thomas repeats. Gathering around the table for meals is the highlight of the harvest, and it is a much-deserved moment of it that strengthens our team spirit and recharges our batteries. Each night, a different harvest cooks a recipe for their meal of your choice, often a lower-calorie one such as lasagna, grilled sausages or chickpea curry. Naturally, meals are paired with bottles of Domaine Rouge-Bleu, from the citrusy Ivory White to the Luscious Lunatique bursting with Blackberry notes. The most curious of us have a head-to-head tasting for a nightcap—by sampling the same wine from different years, we can taste how age heightens its flavors.
Just as fine wine stays in the mouth, participating in a wine harvest is a lasting experience. Fellow harvester, Oscar, goes so far as to say, “It’s a useful thing a person can do.” Every time I drink wine, I taste its people, its place, its story. My time among the vines has really made me appreciate the words of Louis Pasteur: “There is more philosophy in a bottle of wine than in all the books in the world.”
More information: Domaine Rouge-bleu; Domaine Breton; Find out more about this day; WWOOF