We spent last weekend in Macau-en-Médoc for the Harvest Experience Days at Château Beau Rivage. We had to be flexible due to the changeable weather, but we managed to harvest three different plots of vines, merlot, malbec and cabernet sauvignon.
The days started with an introduction to the château and the winemaker, Chrsitine Nadalié, before heading straight out into the vineyard.
Before getting down to the real work of harvesting, we paid a visit to the part of the vineyard where the adopted vines are located!
Then secateurs in hand, and having received our instructions on how to harvest, we spread out between the rows to start picking the grapes.
On Saturday we harvested using porters with baskets on their backs to carry the grapes between the harvesters and the awaiting trailer.
On Sunday the weather forecast was for some showers, so we harvested the grapes into some crates to give us more flexibility. And luckily we did too, because shortly after we started harvesting the second plot of vines, we had to rush back to take shelter in the chai!
We stopped at lunchtime to taste the wines from Château Beau Rivage and to eat the harvesters' meal. After the morning's effort, it was most welcome!
During the days, we also participated in putting our harvest into the fermentation tanks. On Saturday, the bunches were pushed from the trailer into the de-stemming machine to separate the grapes from the stalks. Then, gathered around the sorting table, we removed any unripe or rotten berries before they were pumped into the vats.
We worked a little differently on Sunday, emptying the crates into the de-stemming machine which then placed the grapes directly onto an escalator to be put into the vats.
And we also had a few helpful volunteers who got stuck into cleaning the material afterwards!
In the chai, Christine explained how the grape juice will be transformed into wine during the fermentation stage. We also saw how the juice is drawn from the bottom of the vats and pumped back into the top, a process which helps oxygenate the wine and extract more tannin from the grape skins.
We then went into the barrel room for an introduction into the vinification and ageing side of wine making.
The day finished with the tasting of a grape juice that has just started to ferment. Very sweet and a little effervescent, but the first taste of the wine to come!
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