We spent a great weekend picking the grapes in Saint-Emilion for the Harvest Experience Days at Château Coutet. As we were to learn, there is much more to harvesting than just picking grapes, particularly when you’re trying to make a wine as closely as possible to one that was made almost 300 years ago. But more of that later.
After the introductions, we headed up the grassy track onto the limestone plateau where Saint-Emilion’s finest vineyard plots are located. This is where the Gourmet Odyssey adopted vines are to be found, in the Peycocut vineyard. We took a few minutes to find our micro-plot of adopted merlot vines, to take a few pictures.
We then headed to a neighbouring cabernet franc vineyard plot, and equipped ourselves with a pair of secateurs and crate to put the harvested grapes in. We listened intently to the instructions to learn which grapes to pick, and which to leave. The mildew that had set in in the spring had meant that we had to be particularly attentive in sorting out the grapes that had dried up to become as hard as peppercorns. To the chagrin of the winemaker, in a year that the harvest is much smaller than usual, it also takes much more time to pick the grapes as you have to be that much more selective.
As we picked the grapes we chatted away and asked the winemakers lots of questions covering a wide range of subjects such as the work in the vineyard, the surrounding Saint-Emilion vineyards, being organic, and the David-Beaulieu’s long history with the winery stretching back over 15 generations.
Once we had filled our crates, we took them to the trailer to be stacked carefully so as to not crush the grapes. Our reward? Another crate to keep us busy! Once the bell from one of the nearby clock towers had chimed, we downed tools, and followed our precious harvest back down the hill to the winery.
A welcome glass of wine, the 2015 vintage of the winery’s second wine, Château Belle-Cimes, was waiting for us, which we enjoyed in the park between the château and the vineyard. During the tasting, we learnt about the incredible story of Cuvée Eméri, a bottle of wine found in the family cellar that dates back to 1750, and that is still full thanks to the glass stopper used to seal the bottle. The family has recreated the wine and bottle as closely as possible to how it would have been originally made, and the grapes that we had picked in the morning were destined to help make the 2018 vintage of the Cuvée Emeri.
We then sat down to a delicious lunch prepared on-site by the excellent local caterer, where we tasted some of the other wines. To start, we had a winemaker’s salad with smoked bacon and soft poached egg, served with the round and elegant 2014 Château Coutet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru red wine. Then for the main course we enjoyed guinea fowl with a foie-gras and wild mushroom sauce and a medley of seasonal vegetables, served with the more structured 2015 vintage of the same wine. With the cheese and chocolate desert, we were privileged to taste the 2014 vintage of the Cuvée Demoiselle, which is the same wine that goes into the Cuvée Emeri, the only difference being the glass bottle itself. Not your average harvester’s lunch!
Harvest time at the winery isn’t just about picking grapes as we were about to find out. Underneath the awning that had been erected outside the chai, the grapes that we had picked were awaiting for us. Several stations had been set up and we gathered around to listen to the instructions. As the grapes were destined for the Cuvée Emeri, they were to be dealt with in a special manner. Instead of using the sorting table and de-stemming machine, our grapes were to be sorted by hand, berry by berry. By hand picking only the very best of the grapes, and removing any that weren’t ripe enough or had been affected by the mildew, the winemaker can significantly improve the quality of the resulting wine, particularly in a difficult year such as this one.
Hand sorting the grapes is however a very time consuming way of doing things, and therefore costly. We therefore saw how the same job can be done by machine before heading into the chai. Here we learnt how the grapes are put into the different vats, and the juice turned into wine during the fermentation period, and the work done to extract the colour and tannins from the skins during maceration.
We ended the day in the barrel room for a quick introduction to the work that will be covered in more detail during the Vinification Experience Days to age, blend, and prepare the wines to be ready for bottling. There is still lots that needs to be done before we have our personalised bottles of wine in our hands!
Interested in participating in the harvesting the grapes in Saint-Emilion or giving an adopt-a-vine gift? More information on the Wine Experience.