Wine is probably the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of France, a country of gastronomic delights. French wines are made from grapes grown according to the soil and climate of the region where they are produced. As a result, a wide variety of flavors and tastes are produced throughout France.
🍇 Lire ce blog 👉🏻 en français
Before I moved to France, I rarely had a chance to drink wine 🇯🇵 I knew about Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Beaujolais, but I didn't know that Alsace is famous for white wine 😅 I'm ashamed to say that my personal wine knowledge was like that 😅
In case you are wondering, in France, wine-producing regions are divided into 10 main regions
Alsace, Lorraine
Champagne
Bourgogne
Jura, Savoie
Loire
Bordeaux
Southwest
Rhône
Provence, Corse
Languedoc, Roussillon
After coming to France ✈️🇫🇷 I started climbing in the Vosges Mountains of Alsace and every time I saw a small village surrounded by vineyards, I wanted to try harvesting grapes used for wine at least once.
Harvesting grapes for wine is called "vendange" in French.
This blog is a reminder of my first vendange experience in the vineyards of Climbing Friend, "Domaine Moritz"
When are the grapes harvested?
Most French wines are made from grapes harvested between mid-September and early October, when the holiday season ends.
However, in recent years, the grape harvest has tended to be earlier due to global warming.
In 2022, France had an unusually hot summer due to the effects of global warming. The grape harvest is earlier than usual, starting in late July in the southwestern part of France (Languedoc-Roussillon), depending on the region.
According to "Domaine Moritz" who helped us this time, about 20 years ago in Alsace, grapes were harvested in October.
Who picks the grapes?
Vendange workers come from many different countries these days, including French nationals.
According to Domaine Moritz, before 2020, i.e. before the outbreak of the new coronavirus, it was relatively easy to find seasonal workers to work as vendange.
However, after the restrictions imposed by the new coronavirus, it has become more difficult to find seasonal workers to work as vendange.
How are the grapes harvested?
In France, there are two ways of vendange: the traditional hand-picking of grapes and the more recent use of tractors that can pick grapes.
In Alsace, some tractors are used to harvest grapes, but in Champagne, for example, mechanical harvesting is forbidden in the name of Champagne.
The process of harvesting grapes by hand is divided into two main parts.
1️⃣ The person in charge of harvesting the grapes
2️⃣ The person in charge of collecting the harvested grapes
1️⃣ The grape pickers
The pair of two people across the hedge pick grapes one by one and cut them off with scissors. They cut the grapes from the branches and put them in the bucket at hand.
Basically, European vineyards are not the "trellised vineyards" that we are familiar with in Japan, but "hedged vineyards. The height of the vineyard is about 100 cm. Harvesting grapes is quite hard work, involving squatting, standing, and stooping.
2️⃣ Collecting the harvested grapes.
Carrying a large bucket on their backs, the grape pickers collect the grapes that have accumulated in smaller buckets and carry them to the back of the truck. It's hard work, carrying dozens of kilos of grapes on their backs up a steep hill and back again and again.
The grapes are harvested by hand in the vineyards of "Domaine Moritz." Roughly speaking, there are about 13 people who cut the grapes and 2 people who collect the cut grapes.
Vendange work time flow
8:00am Morning grape picking begins
12:30pm Lunch
1:30pm Afternoon grape picking begins
5:00pm Aperitif after the work is done
⚠️ The harvested grapes are pressed on the same day, so the daily working hours depended on the amount of grapes to be harvested (vineyard area).
⚠️ If it rains a little, the grapes are harvested.
"Domaine Moritz" has a variety of grapes, including Riesling, Pinot Noir, Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Sylvaner, etc.,
So they were harvesting while watching the ripeness of the grapes.
We did not work every day for a week straight (Monday through Friday), but at most 4 days/week.
Lunch at Vendange
If the weather is fine, we eat lunch together in front of the vineyard as if it were a picnic. Basically, we start with soup, followed by the main course, cheese, and dessert. Coffee is served at the end. Wine is of course served at lunch. The full course meal, eaten outside while chatting about trivial matters, is very tasty and energizes the afternoon's work.
The grapes are harvested and pressed on the same day. The Alsace region is famous for its white wines, but red wines made from Pinot Noir are also produced.
✍🏻 The Pinot Noir grapes are destemmed on the same day and sent to tank. The grapes (Pinot Noir) are placed in a drum-type machine to separate the berries from the stalks, as shown in the picture.
✍🏻 For white wine, the juice is pressed without de-stemming.
Although there were days when it rained cold and the grape harvest was difficult, I learned a little about the unique culture of France through the vendange, I understood a little more about wine.
For example, the "Grands Crus" classification, which is often heard of in French wine, is used differently in different regions.
In the case of Alsace, there are 51 sub-districts "terroirs" and wines made from grapes harvested in these "terroirs" are recognized as "Alsace Grands Crus" 😁
⚠️ Grands Crus in Burgundy are defined by vineyards.
And now that I have actually done a Vendange in one of these 51 "terroirs", I understand more about "Alsace Grand Cru" 😆
I met people I would not have met if I had not done the vendange, which was a good experience.
It was great to get a glimpse of the vineyards where the wines of my climbing friends are made and the process of wine production.
Contact form 📩
The wines of my first vendange experience will be available from "Domaine Moritz" from 2023 onwards.
If anyone reading this blog is interested in Domaine Moritz's wines, please send a message directly to "Domaine Moritz" or contact me through the "GET IN TOUCH 📩" on this blog and I will forward your message to "Domaine Moritz".
1️⃣ Directly to "Ms. Domaine Moritz
2️⃣ The contact form on this blog
⚠️ If you send a message, please include the title of this blog "Les Falaises de Grès" even in the body of the message, so we can better understand the situation. For example, "I read your blog "Les Falaises de Grès" and I am interested in...".
⚠️"Domaine Moritz" has wines made from Riesling, Pinot Noir, Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Sylvaner and others. Please note, however, that on the day of the Sylvaner harvest, I was out climbing in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and did not participate in the harvest 🤣
If you are ever in Alsace, why not stop by Domaine Moritz's winery?
If it is convenient for them, they would be happy to give you a tour of their winery. It will be a different experience from the usual sightseeing. Climbing friends speak English as well as French.
✍🏻 Vendange 2022 à Domaine Moritz
Opmerkingen