Monday 28 October 2013

La vendange

I missed the grape harvest last year, as it was just about this time of year I was diagnosed with cancer. I was cross for a number of reasons, as you can imagine. One of the reasons was that I had been looking forward to seeing my first French grape harvest....la vendange.

So, it has been sheer delight for me this year, partly because I wasn’t sure I would be here to see la vendange 2013, and partly because it has been so fascinating.
Our vines, earlier in the year
The first thing to say is that it has been late this year. Friends tell me that due to the long cold and damp spring, the grapes have been at least a couple of weeks behind this year. From my limited experience, I would say this is about right. Our figs have been 2-3 weeks behind where they were last year, and the olives seem even further behind.
Our vines......one of the 3 that produced some fabulous grapes
We have a few vines ( about 25 ) on our land in Caunes. If all our vines produced as many grapes as the 3 on the right hand side of our little vineyard, we would be swamped. A few weeks ago, I was aware that some of our grapes were shrivelling up on the vine, some had certainly gone mouldy.....but some were spectacular. Suddenly, they enlarged, turned from pale green to a fabulous purple colour, and started to smell beautiful. I was worried about attracting les sangliers ( wild boars) onto our land from the forest land immediately behind our house, so I picked the ripe grapes and made them into some very good grape jelly, and picked the mouldy/ shrivelling ones, and gave them to the very grateful compost heap. I should add that les sangliers arrived anyway, and caused damage to the vegetable patch, foolishly placed (by me) right next to the vines.
some of the harvest from our vines
 
I made half a dozen jars of grape jelly right at the end of August
Within 3 or 4 weeks of my own grape harvest each drive through the Minervois countryside began to be hampered by the traffic involved with la vendange. The huge grape harvesting machines became a familiar sight, and following tractors, pulling large open wagons, piled high with grapes became a way of life.
The Caunes co-op, where the grapes are stripped from their stalks.
 
The discarded stalks from the grapes.....used for fuel in some places apparently.
Signs at the side of the roads urged motorists to have patience due to la vendange, and the spilt and split grapes on the roadway made tyres squeak, and made the air smell of rich dark fruity wine. Mark thought something was wrong with his new bike, when he heard a sort of squelchy sound......it was the tyres making their way through grape juice. The bike smelled decidedly alcoholic when Mark came home. ( please note...it was definitely the bike...not Mark ).
I should have been thinking about blogging when all this was going on....but for some reason I wasn’t. I wish I had taken more photos of the actual harvesting. It was taking place all around us.

A walk through some vineyards near Caunes
By the time we left the Minervois, for our winter trip back to England, the grapes were “in”, the Co-ops were closing their doors, and the vines had started to change colour. It was almost as if, the leaves knew that once the grapes were picked, they weren’t needed anymore. They no longer needed to provide shelter for those beautiful swelling voluptuous luxurious berries.
The grapes have gone....and the leaves seem to know.
Within days, the leaves started to curl and crisp, to redden and yellow. Vineyards which days beforehand had been lush green with huge bunches of purple hanging jewels, were swathed in reds and oranges, yellows and browns.
Just a few grapes missed by the harvester.
It was beautiful and mellow and gentle.
After the furious activity of the work involved in gathering the crop, the countryside was quiet again. The activity was now taking place in les caves, in the Co-ops, in les chateaux, les domaines and the little garagista’s wine making premises.

I have no idea whether the 2013 Minervois wine will be good or not, but I am so pleased to have been able to observe some of the activity that has been involved in creating it. I look forward to sampling some of it !
Jess, sampling an earlier vintage.
 

32 comments:

  1. Dear Janice - I hope that you toasted la vendange 2013 in a glass of Minervois wine - on so many counts it has been a very important conclusion to the year for you. Next year will be like starting with a clean slate, you have done so well.
    The grapes on your vines look wonderful, so big and colourful. I have never tasted grape jelly but suspect that it is delicious.

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    1. The grape jelly is gorgeous...quite sharp, and such a beautiful colour. I can hardly believe that the year since my diagnosis is up...and that I feel as good as I do. Yes, I will be drinking a few Minervois 2013 wines I think. Thanks for your good wishes and kind words.

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  2. Janice, I'd love to hear your grape jelly recipe. I've never made it.

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    1. I have a jar of it in my cupboard...not opened yet but it is a beautiful colour.:-) Axxx

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    2. 1kg grapes, seeds and all, cook whole in a preserving pan for about 10 mins...until juices start to flow, mash them up with a potato masher, cook for a further 10 mins,
      Pour mixture into a jelly bag ( or whatever bit of sterilised muslin you can lay your hands on) drain for several hours...I do it overnight.
      Avoid squeezing the juice out as I'm told it makes the jelly cloudy.
      Put juice in pan, with 450 g preserving sugar to every 600mls of liquid produced by the grapes and juice of one lemon,
      Heat gently till all sugar is dissolved, get it on a rolling boil when you are sure the sugar has all dissolved, it should reach 105 degrees C.....but I've given up using a thermometer, I just test for setting on a cool saucer...then bottle up as you would any jam.
      I don't know what green grapes would be like....mine were really dark purple and made a gorgeous clear ruby red jelly.

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    3. Will definitely give this a go next year...thanks for the recipe xx

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  3. This has been a joy to read, Janice. Full of everything that 'is' and none of the what 'might have been'. The grapes are really bursting with colour and your post really does justice to the wholet thing. Maybe you could have sat up one night to catch the sangliers rooting out your vegetable patch...? That would have been a great photo.
    I just have a feeling that 2013 is going to be a great vintage. It already is, isn't it?
    Axxx

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    1. I really would love to see the sangliers in our garden...there is no doubt they visit. I'm sure I could sit on the terrace and be safe as well as unobtrusive...maybe mnext year. 2013 has been a good year ! Jxxx

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  4. You have a lot to celebrate with the 2013 vintage.
    Those colours are lovely and your post takes me back to doing the vendange with friends for so many years.
    Here it is coffee picking time....and it is, of course, raining.....give me grapes any time!

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    1. What I thought was hilarious was the various wine tastings organised in the village, were obviously not 2013 wine.....but any excuse for a wine tasting seems to work I find. I think I will enjoy drinking 2013 wine when it finally arrives though.

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  5. A very interesting description of the time of the grape harvest Janice. I have never tasted grape jelly but love your pretty packaging, and I am sure it is delightful. Even as the leaves die, they are beautiful in their colours. Here's a toast to your continued good health. P. xx

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    1. Thanks Patricia. The harvest has been really special this year for me. I have enjoyed it so much.

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  6. Great post about the grape harvest.....your 'grape jelly' looks tasty and very creative packaging.
    My city is near Niagara falls area and in the last few decades they have changed it as a fruit belt to a wine area......so many of the farms have been transformed into wineries. I mean there are dozens of farms with grape vines and some award winning wineries......some specialize in an 'Ice Wine', where they make wine out of grapes that are frozen..... thanks for sharing your story.

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    1. Hi Erica (Irene)

      My brother brought me some ice wine back from a trip to Canada. It was delicious but a very sweet dessert wine. Is this because of the type of grape/sugar or frozen grapes?

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    2. I'm fascinated by the ice wine idea...maybe freezing it increases the sugar content...come on Gaynor, you're the scientist here....what do you think ?
      I do like sweet wine, especially with a really lovely dessert....Christmas pudding comes to mind.

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  7. I can just feel and smell the tyres rollong over the grapes and I can almost taste that grape jelly and the wine Jess is drinking.

    This post is a good work out for the senses!! x ;o)

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    1. Thanks Gaynor....It was hilarious the first time we heard the squelching of tyres...I really did think something serious was wrong with the car.

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  8. The colours in your post -- from the grapes to the autumnal colours are truly amazing. As are you, Janice! Your post is uplifting in so many ways!

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    1. Thanks so much. I must admit to having found this vendange very special !

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  9. What amazing colours in the photos.In the process you describe and show in your photos you have captured a real earthiness. x Maria.

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    1. Thanks Maria....I just wish I had taken more photos of the actual harvest taking place. I must have been too busy planning trips to see Annie, trips to Pau and planning to get back to family here in England.

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  10. So glad you were here to enjoy the 2013 harvest and I hope reading this interesting post that you will be enjoying many more harvests over the years. Keep well and enjoy life have a great week Diane

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    1. Thanks Diane. It has bee a great season to be in the Minervois. I suspect life in the Charente has been equally pleasurable. Autumn is a delightful time.

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  11. Lovely post Janice. I'm sure you are looking forward to sampling the wine. I'd also love your recipe for grape jelly. We always have far too many grapes and it would be nice to find other ways of putting them to good use.

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    1. I've put the recipe in my response to Annie (BtoB)....hope you can access it ok. I wondered what I would do with ours....if there had been loads more I would have been stuck really. Some people just take them to the local co-op, but I would have to be registered with them first, and then have to treat them at various points of the year...possibly, some of the time when I'm not there, so it would get complicated. One of the local wine makers near to us did suggest that I could actually make my own wine with very little outlay. I'm not sure its worth doing that, when some of the professionally made stuff is so good and so cheap !

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  12. What a super post, Janice, marking an important milestone for you after the year you've had. i'm so glad you were able to enjoy the vendage at last and I envy you, as it's something I've never seen. Apple picking just isn't the same, somehow. :-) I see just what you mean about the glorious colours of the vine leaves once the grapes have been picked. I like to think of them becoming my favourite French wines - Minervois and Corbieres. :-)

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    1. I do think that Corbieres and Minervois wines are becoming more and more seen as good quality.....but still so much cheaper than the more established areas of excellence.
      Anyway, I don't really mind what 2013 wine will be like.... I was there to see the harvest, and loved every minute of it.

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  13. The grapes look beautiful, but are the sangliers as scary as they look? We visited Rye yesterday and they were having a wild boar festival! Not sure this would happen in France.

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    1. People tell us that you don't want to get in the way of les sangliers. They are much bigger than I thought and move amazingly quickly. Mark has seen a few on the golf course, where they cause a lot of damage. They managed to completely wreck my willow planters around my raised vegetable beds.
      Its hunting season now....not that we would allow men with guns onto our land....but once the harvest in is, the men with guns are actually allowed onto the vineyards, to hunt for beasts trying to get the last of the grapes.

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  14. I've been so busy I'm just now getting to this most mellow of posts, Janice. A lot to celebrate for you this season, isn't it, along with the grapes coming into harvest. I'm sure you will enjoy that grape jelly as the months wear, reflecting back on the harvest, and looking forward to sipping some of that wine. Lovely, lovely post.

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    1. Yes....an interesting year ! The harvest has been a delightful end to it, and yes, that grape jelly is going to be enjoyed throughout the winter.

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  15. Glad you are now fighting fit and able to enjoy the grape harvest this year - even if it was an odd year for the vines. We are not in a wine area here - between Cahors and Gaillac vignobles - but it used to be under vines around here, for the farmers' own consumption. Your grape jelly sounds interesting. We do have a vine that I have trained along a wall and produces very pippy grapes. Perhaps I should have a go at your recipe next year. Too late now...

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