After an introduction to the day, Jean-François Chapelle spoke with passion about his profession, winery, and winemaking in Burgundy.  We then got kitted up for the harvest in the Clos des Cornières vineyard, a plot of vines in front of the chateau where the adopted vines of the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience are located.

Jean-François explained how the work at harvest time is organised and the importance of selecting which grapes to pick to ensure only the good ones are picked.  2021 has been a particularly difficult year.  In April, a huge frost across the Burgundy winegrowing region meant significantly less yields in many areas.  Then the heavy and frequent rainfall meant that it as impossible to treat and protect all the remaining grapes in time.  Mildew and odium set in, further reducing the quantity of grapes, so it’s a very small harvest this year.

It was then time to start harvesting!  We had to be careful when choosing which grapes to cut and put into the crates, having to remove any berries that weren’t up to standard.

It’s a long and hard job, as we soon learnt.  Once we’d removed the imperfect grapes, sometimes there weren’t many remaining on the bunch!

 

Once we had filled a crate, we brought it back to the beginning of the row, but with the small bunches, we managed to fill far fewer crates than normal!

After a couple of hours of harvesting, the aperitif served in the garden or cellar depending on the weather of the day, was very welcome! To start, the 2018 Santenay Village chosen for the white Wine Experience clients, accompanied by the delicious cheese gougères.

We then sat down to a lovely lunch, prepared by a local caterer in Meursault, accompanied by three other wines, the 2019 Burgundy Chardonnay, the 2018 Santenay Clos des Cornières (the wine chosen for the red Wine Experience clients), and the 2016 Santenay Gravières Premier Cru.

After lunch, we headed to the cellar to put the grapes we had harvested in the morning into the vats.

The grape bunches are first emptied onto a vibrating table that removes any grapes that had been shrivelled up by the sun, or water droplets if the grapes have been picked when raining.  They then move along sorting table on a conveyor belt for a final sort to remove any unwanted grapes or leaves that might have made their way into the crates.  At the end of the sorting table, the bunches fall into a de-stemming machine where the grapes are separated from the stalks, and then fall into a trolley, a floor below in the vinification hall.

The trolley is then pushed to another conveyor belt, that climbs up and lets the grapes fall into the vat.  After a year’s work, it very satisfying to be able to at last start the wine production side of things!

The grapes that are in the vat will be left to slowly macerate at a low temperature to keep the aromatic potential of the wine.  The fermentation will take around 15 days, at the same time as the colour and tannins are extracted from the skins during the maceration phase. Each vat will have the cap or skin and pips pushed down into the juice twice a day to help the maceration, which will last for about three weeks.

Then the wine will be racked to obtain the free-run wine, and the remaining solid matter of skin and pips will be pressed to obtain the press wine.  Then the ageing phase will start that will go on for the next 12 to 18 months!

There’s lots of work to produce a quality wine, but the effort will be well worth it once the bottles are ready to be tasted!  We’ll learn more about the work in the cellar during the ageing and bottling processes during the Vinification Experience Days.

And so the day, full of great exchanges and rewarding work, drew to a close.  We hope to see you back at Domaine Chapelle soon, or at one of the other Gourmet Odyssey partner wineries!

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After the introductions, Jean-François Chapelle, the owner at the winery, explained the history of wine-making in Burgundy, that of his family, and his journey that led him to transform the winery to being organically certified.

We then headed out into the vineyard to meet our adopted vines, give them some warm words of encouragement, and take a few souvenir photos before learning about the vegetative life cycle of the vines and the work carried out during the different seasons.

 

 

Pruning takes place between December and March and is the most important job in controlling the maximum number of grapes that each vine produces, directly impacting the quality of the wine.  It also gives the shape to the vines to help facilitate the work needed to be done.

With the arrival of spring, the buds start to burst on the vines, forming the first branches which grow rapidly in May, keeping the wine-makers busy in the vineyard to ensure that all of the branches are supported by the training wires and don’t fall to the ground or become entangled with the branches from the neighbouring rows.

 

 

Training the vines has to be done with care so as to not damage the fruit-bearing branches.  The wires are then clipped together to hold the branches more tightly in place.  This is one of the jobs which our apprentice wine-makers helped out with, even doing so on one occasion with a little rain that gave us a good insight into what it’s like when the weather isn’t at its best!

 

 

The vines are trimmed just above the training wires to limit the growth of unnecessary vegetation, keeping the grapes better exposed to the sun and ventilated which will help them grow and ripen in the best conditions through the summer months.

The vines are treated organically throughout the spring and summer depending on the weather and amount of rainfall.  This year has been particularly difficult due to the frequent rainfall, and has meant that the wine-makers have had to adapt how they work.   We were able to notice the difficulty and delays due to being unable to get the tractor in the vineyard with so much rain.

 

 

After our mornings spent in the fresh air, the aperitif and tasting of the Santenay white wine made from the adopted chardonnay vines at Domaine Chapelle, accompanied by some gougères, was most welcome!

The delicious lunch, prepared by a local chef, was the occasion to learn more about wine-making in Burgundy, and to taste three other wines from Domaine Chapelle, including the Clos des Cornières red wine made from the pinot noir vines that other clients had adopted.  It was a very enjoyable moment, full of interesting discussions.

 

 

In the afternoon, Jean-François took us to see the new plot in the Clos des Cornières that had been recently replanted.  He explained the work done to remove the old vines and replace them with young vines and the economic implications involved.  Following the harvest, the old vines were pulled up and then the plot was left fallow for three years to regenerate the nutrients in the soil, then after the vines were replanted you have three years without a harvest, and then you have a low quality harvest for the following three years.  In total it will be at least 10 years before the winery will start to enjoy a quality harvest from the plot!

 

 

We then returned to the winery for a quick tour of the vinification hall and cellar to see where the grapes will journey to at harvest time, and where they will be transformed into wine, and aged before being ready to be bottled.  We’ll learn more about the stages in the Harvest and Vinification Experience Days.

 

 

Thank you to all the participants of the Discovery Experience Days.  As always we spent some really interesting days with you, and we hope to see you again soon for the harvest.

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After the welcome coffee, Jean-François recounted the family history, and explained the origins of the Burgundy AOC system, the notion of the terroir, and his reasons for converting the winery to being organic.  We then split into two groups and alternated between the different wine-making workshops.

Myriam, the Gourmet Odyssey wine expert, and Mark, the company’s founder, explained how to taste wines, how to identify different aromas, and the impact that different choices made during the wine-making process have on wine.  We learnt why it’s so difficult to describe an aroma, and that it is necessary to train our nose to better identify and remember the plethora of different aromas that can be found in wines.  We also learnt the difference between the primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas to better understand why a wine smells the way it does.

During this time, Jean-François led the other group on a visit of the fermentation hall and cellar, explaining the different phases of making and ageing wine.  We saw the different machinery and equipment used to better understand the organisation, planning, and technical skill needed to end up with quality wine.

We then met up again to taste different wines that are still in the ageing process, from different containers and different terroir, to learn about the impact that new oak has on a wine compared to a barrel that has already been used for two wines for example.

The time had come for the aperitif, and we enjoyed a 2019 Santenay white wine that accompanied the gougères, a local Burgundy delicacy.

The wine tasting continued over lunch of other Burgundy specialties, a delicious parsley ham, and chicken in a mustard sauce, paired with Santenay village and Santenay Premier Cru wines from the winery.

After lunch we headed out into the vineyard to meet up with our adopted vines.  We thanked them for the grapes that they had produced for the harvest, and took some photos to immortalise the moment!

To finish the wine-making cycle, we then learnt about the work to prepare the wine for bottling, and to label them.

They were a couple of very enjoyable days, and opened our eyes to the complexity and dedication needed to make great wine.

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The harvest this year in Burgundy was very early, starting on the 19th August at Domaine Chapelle, and finished with the Gourmet Odyssey team on the 30th August. We were eagerly awaited, as we were the ones to pick the last grapes, put them into the vats, and close out the harvest of the 2020 grapes! As soon as Jean-François Chapelle had introduced us to the winery and the surrounding area, we headed out into the Clos des Cornières vineyard, which is located just next to the winery.

It’s called a “clos” because the plot is surrounded by a wall on three sides. The clos has two distinct areas, each with different ages of vines. The winery’s team of harvesters picked the grapes from the younger vines in the lower part of the vineyard, whilst we took care of the older section. Jean-François explained that the harvest from the two areas would be kept separate in different vats and aged separately until the end of the ageing process, when they will be blended together to form the Clos des Cornières wine.

This year, the quality of grapes is exceptional thanks to the warm and dry weather. Even if the grapes are small as a consequence, they are in great condition and of a very homogenous maturity. Jean-François directions were therefore very straight forward; pick everything!

We quickly got into the groove. Spread out among the rows we quickly filled up the crates, and once full, we brought them back to the beginning of the rows to exchange for an empty one. The crates were then loaded into the van to transport the grapes back to the winery.

The winery harvest team used a person with a basket on his back to collect the grapes from each of the harvesters. The basket contains more grapes than the crates and gets very heavy. The porter then empties the basket into a trailer by climbing up a ladder and pouring the grape bunches over his head. The trailer is then emptied back at the winery. It’s a slightly different process, and we would see later that the grapes which arrive in the trailer are not treated in the same way as our grapes in the crates.
Once we’d finished picking the grapes, we went and had a look at our adopted vines in the Clos des Cornières vineyard for the clients of the Santenay red wine, and in the Les Crais vineyard on the other side of the road for the Santenay white clients. Jean-François then explained the different terroir that make up the Burgundy wine growing region and how that determines the lay out of the vineyard plots, before making our way back to the courtyard where we tasted a well-earned glass of Santenay white wine!

We continued tasting the wines from Domaine Chapelle over lunch, before heading to the winery building where the grapes we harvested were waiting for us. It was now time to sort the grapes, and as Yannick, the Technical Director, said, the task was made relatively easy because we had worked so hard in the vineyard and the grapes were in excellent condition! To sort the grapes, we tipped out the crates onto the sorting table, which has a vibrating conveyor belt to shake off any water when it rains. We removed any damaged grapes or ones that weren’t yet ripe enough, as well as any leaves, snails or other stowaways from the vineyard!

The grapes then fall either into a destemming machine or directly into the vat. The grapes from the winery’s harvest team were separated from the stems before being put into the vat. The bunches harvested by the Gourmet Odyssey clients were put directly into a vat because the harvest took place over 3 days. If we had separated the grapes from the stems we would have pierced the skin of the grapes a little, the juice would have fallen to the bottom of the vat, and would have risked starting to ferment before the vat was full, which would be more difficult to control. Putting the whole bunches into the vat produces a stronger, more tannic wine. It will be aged separately from the other vats, and then blended with the other wines from the Clos des Cornières vineyard later to produce the final wine.

We also saw the press used for the white wines. The grapes used for the whites are sorted and pressed as soon as they arrive back at the winery. The juice is then put into a vat before the fermentation process begins. The grapes from the Les Crais vineyard were harvested on the 24th August, as the thinner skinned chardonnay grapes had reached their optimal maturity before the pinot noir. The fermentation had already begun for the Santenay Village white!
The fermentation period will also be the maceration phase for the red wines, where the wine will extract the colour and aromas from the skin and pips.

Jean-François explained how they manage the fermentation by regulating the temperature. The winery doesn't use any added yeast, relying solely on the yeast cells that are naturally present on the grape skins, so it is more difficult to predict when the fermentation will start and how it will evolve. If the temperature is too low, the fermentation has a hard job getting started, but if the must gets too warm, the yeast cells will die and won’t finish transforming the sugar into alcohol. The temperature is controlled using immersion heaters that are placed into the vats and have either hot or cold water pumped through them to heat or cool the must as needed.
Over the next few weeks, the team in the fermentation hall will be on tenterhooks as they monitor the progress of the different fermentations. The next step will be to rack the first wines to separate the wine from the solid matter of stems, skin and pips, but we’ll cover that in more detail during the next Vinification Experience Days at the start of next year.
Many thanks to all the team at Domaine Chapelle for welcoming us and for replying to our numerous questions with passion and good humour!

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We then made our way to the Clos des Cornières and the Crais vineyards, where we met up with our adopted vines.  It was the chance to take a few souvenir photos and participate in the “My Vine” photo competition in the hope of winning a magnum of wine.  Jean-François then started to explain the work in the vineyard, starting with pruning and covering all the main aspects up to when the grapes will be ready for harvesting in the autumn, something that is possible to participate in, during one of the Harvest Experience Days organised by Gourmet Odyssey.

We then learnt how to prune the vines and the differences between the cordon de royat and guyot pruning methods.  The principal aim of pruning is to limit the potential yield of the grapes that each vine produces, and the winery looks to achieve yields of around 35 hl/ha.  Lowering the yield, means that the vine is more likely to be able to produce nice ripe and concentrated grapes for the harvest.  Pruning takes around three months, from January to March, and is the most highly skilled of the tasks.  Theoretically, it’s fairly easy to understand which branches to cut and which to keep.  But we quickly learnt that each vine is an exception to the rule, and so we have to adapt the approach slightly for each one, which doesn’t make the task any easier!

After pruning, the cut branches need to be pulled away from the vines.  After receiving our instructions, we spread out among the rows and started pulling!  It’s a fairly pleasant and rewarding job at first, but which we appreciate could become more difficult and repetitive day after day!

Jean-François then finished explaining the jobs to come during spring to de-bud the vines, attach them to the training wires, remove the leaves, and treat the vines organically to protect them from fungi.

By this time, we had well-earned our aperitif, and so we headed back to the winery courtyard to taste the Santenay Village white wine, accompanied by the traditional Burgundy gougères cheese appetisers.

We enjoyed the delicious and wholesome lunch of pike-perch terrine, beef bourguignon, some of the famous local cheeses, and a pear and blackcurrant chocolate entremets.  All enjoyed of course with three of the winery’s red wines, including the Clos des Cornières Santenay red.

The stroll through the vineyards was most welcome to enjoy the lovely scenery and to help with the digestion!  We were able to talk in more depth about the different surrounding terroir that make up the Burgundy landscape, and distinguish the wines from this mythical region.

This lovely day ended with a quick tour of the cellar.  We’re looking forward to coming back to the winery to participate in the Harvest and Vinification Experience Days to further our learning and understanding of the wine-maker’s work.  We all left with some great memories to recall when we open our next bottle of wine from Domaine Chapelle!

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Gourmet Odyssey will send an e-gift card and certificate by email to get their Wine Experience started straight away after they receive their birthday gift.  In their customer portal, they’ll discover more about the winemaker, wine, and winery, and will learn about all of the work carried out in the vineyard and cellar to nurture the vines, harvest the grapes, ferment and age the wine before it is ready for bottling.  The Gourmet Odyssey e-birthday Wine Experience also includes one personalised bottle of organic wine for each adopted vine given. 

You can also choose to include one or more Wine Experience Days at the winery.  There are three courses to choose from, each day covering the three main stages of wine-making.  The Discovery Experience Day focuses on the work in the vineyard to learn how to produce the best grapes come harvest time.  The Harvest Experience Day sees you pick the grapes in the morning and follow their journey into the fermentation tank.  And the Vinification Experience Day is focused on all the decisions that the winemaker takes to ferment, blend, and prepare the wine for bottling.  Each day gets the participants involved in the work of a winemaker, is valid for two people, and lasts a full day, lunch and wine-tasting included.  The Wine Experience Days can be included in the original birthday gift, or can be added at a later stage, something that is particularly useful for those group birthday gifts for a special 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 birthday where you don’t know in advance how much the birthday kitty will reach.

Each of the partner wineries, hand-picked by Gourmet Odyssey are organically certified, and are chosen for the quality of the wine as well as the friendliness and charm of the winemakers.  So you can rest assured that the wine included in the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience and the welcome at the vineyard will make for an unforgettable birthday gift that every wine lover will cherish for many years to come.

Learn more about the Gourmet Odyssey online Birthday Wine Gift Experience.

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The impact of some exchanges have however made life very difficult to grow vines.  The most famous example being the arrival of phylloxera in Europe, an aphid of North American origin that decimated the vineyards throughout France  in the 19th century.  French agronomists found a cure by using a North American root from vines not suitable for making wine, and then grafting cuttings from French grape varietals onto them.  The American root stock is planted in the ground, and is unaffected by the aphid, and so resolved the phylloxera problem.

Other diseases, such as mildew or odium, also hail from the American continent, being transported with the help of commercial shipping.  These two fungi also decimated the French vineyards in the 19th century.  French researchers found two products to fight against the fungi.  Sulphur for the odium and copper for the mildew.

The vines are at risk from these two fungi in spring.  They only attack the parts of the vine above ground and that are growing.  They also need a combination of heat and rain to develop.  By spraying sulphur and copper at the right time, it is possible to limit their development and save the future harvest.

In the 60s, the petro-chemical industry developed synthetic products that were much more efficient than copper and sulphur in fighting these diseases.  The only problem being that they also destroy a large share of the other living organisms present in the soil, and we still don’t fully understand the impact of the residue that is then found in the wine and on the skin of the people who work in the vineyards.  With the better understanding we have today of the development cycle of mildew and odium, we are able to effectively fight most of the time against these two diseases using sulphur and copper, the only two products that are authorised in organic farming.
These two products are said to be “contact” products as they protect the plants from the outside and do not penetrate inside the plant.  However, they are therefore easily washed off when it rains, and so the winemaker needs to regularly pass through the vineyards to keep the vines protected.  This involves lots of diesel powered tractors and so higher CO² emissions that add to the greenhouse effect.  What’s more, the products can then pollute the soil as they are washed away by the rain.  Copper in particular is a product that stays in the soil, the amount accumulating year after year.  It’s a big problem for organic winemakers, even though it has much less impact in polluting the soil than the chemical products.  The environmental challenge is to try and find solutions to reduce this pollution. Already the maximum amount of copper allowed to be used is controlled, and was lowered in 2019 to 4kg per hectare per year on average over a 7 year period.  As the amount that is needed varies year on year depending on the rainfall, the theory is that the average smooths out variances in amounts used due to wetter or drier years.

Agronomic research is now turning towards producing grapes from varietals that are resistant to fungal disease.  By crossbreeding different grape varietals that have been selected for their resistance to mildew and odium, and their ability to produce quality grapes, tests are currently being carried out in France.  You will almost certainly have not yet tasted the wine that they produce because the grapes are not yet authorised to be used in the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) wines, but Floréal and Voltis for white wine, and Artaban and Vidoc for red wine, will be set to arrive in your glasses before too long.  The approach is very interesting, but these new grape varietals with folkloric names raise further questions.

France prides itself on producing wines that characterise the different terroir from which they hail, the AOC system being its guardian.  For example, the Pinot Noir grape varietal has always been the only one allowed to produce AOC Santenay red wine in Burgundy, ever since the AOC was created nearly 100 years ago.  Wouldn’t a red wine produced within the geographic boundary of AOC Santenay produced with a different grape varietal distort the AOC system itself?  The same for the Merlot grape varietal in Saint-Emilion! The grape varietals authorised have always been part of the foundation of the AOC system.  By changing the grape varietals, you would have to change the AOC system itself and the taste of the different French wines.

And what if these grape varietals said to be resistant to mildew and odium, then revealed themselves to be susceptible to other, as yet unknown, diseases, we’d maybe be better off sticking with the actual situation!  But this is an avenue worth exploring, and as always with the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO), the government body charged with creating and upholding the AOC system, change is never something that is done quickly without due consideration given to the sustainability and impact of the proposed change.

The environmental challenges that we are currently facing oblige us to innovate and search for real solutions.  The example of grafting European grape varietals shows us that research can bring solutions that do not harm the environment, whilst the problems encountered with the application of synthetic products show us that they are not always the miracle cure.  The searching and questioning must go on!

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On the 25th December, it’s cold in the middle of the vineyard.  The vines have lost their leaves a while ago now and some are even sporting their new winter cut to be in best shape for spring when nature will spur them back into life after the long winter hibernation period.  The frozen soil cracks under the feet of the winemaker who has stepped out to fetch some wood for the chimney in the dining room.  All of the family has gathered together around the big table to enjoy Christmas lunch together.

We start our journey at Domaine Chapelle in the picturesque Burgundy village of Santenay.  The Christmas presents have been opened and the taste buds are opening up with the delicious smells emanating from the kitchen.  A plate of Normandy oysters from Utah Beach make their entrance.

Jean-François Chapelle returns from the cellar with a bottle of 2015 Santenay Les Gravières Premier Cru white wine, made from the Chardonnay grapes that grow on the marly clay limestone slopes near the winery.  “What a lovely shiny pale gold colour it has.  It reveals light brioche aromas with white flower scents and a little oak.  On the palate it is rich and complex, with a long gourmand finish” Jean-François exclaims.

This Santenay white wine will perfectly accompany the “Spéciales de Claire” oysters that are plump and meaty.  The fullness of the wine will encapsulate the volume and bite of the shellfish.

We continue our meal with a black pudding variation at Domaine de la Guicharde in the southern half of the Côtes du Rhône wine-growing region.  Appetisers of potato and black pudding, black pudding toast and caramelised onions, and black pudding and apple sauce make their way around the table.  For Laurence Goudal, no doubt, the perfect match is a 2015 Terroir du Miocène to support this generous course.  The wine is made from grapes grown on an ancient beach from the Miocène era.  “The wine is ruby coloured and dark.  It has an elegant nose, full of black fruit and spices.  It is smooth on the palate.  The soft tannins accompany the mineral finish that is long and persistent,” Laurence explains.  The spiciness of the Grenache and Syrah accentuate the different aromas from the black pudding. It’s all delicious.

The next course is served at Château de la Bonnelière in Chinon, a charming town in the Loire Valley.  It’s a classic for many French Christmas lunches, foie gras.  It’s served slightly pan-fried, with a red fruit chutney and caramelised onions.  Marc Plouzeau returns from the cellar with a bottle of 2005 Chinon Chapelle red for a more original accompaniment. This wine comes from a single vineyard and is made from the region’s principal grape varietal, Cabernet Franc.  It’s one of the best vine plots, the soil being made up of a mix of sand and clay on a limestone plateau.

“The 2005 Chapelle is an exceptional vintage in the Loire valley.  It has a deep red colour that hasn’t changed much for a wine that is 14 years old.  It releases black fruit and sub-forest aromas.  On the palate, the freshness surprises you for a wine of its age.  The tannic backbone has started to soften, leaving a long and complex finish,” Marc explains.  The silky tannins pair well with the smooth foie gras, and the wonderful aromas from the Cabernet Franc prolong the pleasure.

We then head to Château Coutet in Saint-Emilion for the main course.  Direct from the kitchen comes a piping hot capon, stuffed with truffles and cèpe mushrooms, that is placed with fanfare on the table.  Alain David-Beaulieu has kept a surprise for us.  The evening before, he had brought an old treasure in from the family cellar, a bottle from the 1982 vintage, almost 40 years old.  It’s a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, from the three distinct terroir that make up the winery.  The limestone plateau, the clay limestone slopes, and the sandy plain below.

“This wine is a nice red with a slightly rusty tinge, and has kept a great colour for its age.  But then it’s an exceptional vintage” begins Alain.  “You can tell it’s an old wine from the aromas it gives off.  Behind the still ripe fruit, almost stewed, are subtle foresty smells.  It’s a very complex wine with great structure.  The tannins have softened and the wine is now perfectly balanced.  The minerality of the limestone plateau is still very present.  It’s a wine worthy of the vintage’s esteemed reputation.”  The complexity of the truffle and the majesty of the old Saint-Emilion wine is a privilege that you rarely get the chance to experience.

We journey still further south for the cheese dish at Domaine Allegria in the Languedoc region, where the sun always shines.  A mixture of creamy cheeses, particularly the fresh goats’ cheeses that are so typical of the region.  They are powdered with thyme or rosemary, herbs gathered from the edge of the vineyard.

Ghislain d’Aboville has chosen the 2018 Les Hautes Lumières white wine to accompany them.  “On one hand we have the fresh fruity aromas and peach from the Marsanne and on the other the honeyed notes form the Roussanne.  Its liveliness, structure and elegance make it an ideal match for the cheeses” he announces.

We finish our gargantuan meal in Alsace at Domaine Stentz-Buecher for the caramel crème Christmas log with caramelised apple and lemon centre.  Stéphane Stentz comes back with a long thin bottle, so characteristic of the region’s wines, under his arm.  It’s a 2015 Gewurztraminer Rosenberg Vendanges Tardives.  Patience is required to produce these sweet white wines.  “It’s a full and powerful wine with stewed apricot, peach and litchi aromas.  It fills the mouth with its richness, making way for a fresh finish,” Stéphane shares with us.  Perfect to match the caramelised aromas of the Christmas log.

What a wonderful treat to tour France and share this meal with our passionate winemakers, all of whom work tirelessly throughout the year to produce their excellent organic wines. Something that it’s always great to take a moment to reflect on when opening one of their bottles, surrounded by the people you love, during these end of year celebrations.

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In the garden in front of the chateau, Jean-François, the owner briefly recounted the history of Burgundy wines, and explained the evolution of the production and commercialisation of the wines over the last 100 years, focusing on the decisions that he had taken, notably in converting the winery to becoming organically certified.

We the made our way to the Clos des Cornières vineyard and the Crais plot opposite to meet our adopted vines that will make the red and white wines. Having taken a few photos and whispered some sweet words to them, we met up again in front of the vine rows that we were to harvest. We were to harvest the pinot noir grapes from the Clos des Cornières plot, the chardonnay grapes from the Crais having already reached optimum maturity and so having already been picked a few days earlier.

As with the team of professional harvesters, we listened intently to the briefing for the day, and the instructions of how and what to harvest.  Jean-François explained which bunches to pick, those that are found between the training wires near the bottom of the vines.  The smaller bunches higher up are not sufficiently mature to produce good quality wine. We were also to leave the bunches that had been attacked by mould, and those that had dried out and had no pulp inside them. With the extremely hot weather this summer, quite a few of the bunches unfortunately contained little or no juice.

Armed with a pair of secateurs and a harvesting crate, we started to pick the grapes.  In pairs facing each other we each took a side of the vine row to make sure that we didn’t leave any good grapes behind.  By the end of the morning we had finished our work and filled a fair few crates, some with a little plaster on their cut finger!  The work of a harvester isn’t always as easy as all that!

The time for the aperitif beckoned, and well deserved it was too!  Back in the garden, we enjoyed the Saint-Jean Santenay white wine, accompanied by the famous Burgundy gougères.

We then savoured the regional lunch, accompanied by three red wines, the Burgundy, Santenay Clos des Cornières, and Santenay Premier Cru Les Gravières.

After lunch we went to see how the grapes are sorted and put into the vats. The sorting table is a crucial step in ensuring the quality of the grape juice that will then start fermenting. At the beginning of the table, the crates are emptied one by one onto the conveyor belt.  Either side of the table, 6 to 8 sorters remove any grapes that aren’t of a good enough quality and any leaves that might be present.  At the end of the table the grapes are separated from the stems mechanically and then fall into the fermentation hall below, where a trolley catches them, before being trundled to a another conveyer belt that lifts them up and into the vat.

There is no pumping at this stage so that the grapes arrive in the vat intact, helping to keep a higher degree of freshness to the future wine.
The day ended with an explanation of the fermentation process which will start in the next few days, and the work involved during this time.  It will be the first stage in the vinification and ageing process, more of which will be explained at the start of next year.
So the time to leave arrived, Jean-François and Myriam thanking us and looking forward already to our next visit!

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In the winery garden, surrounded by vines, Jean-François, the owner of Domaine Chapelle, briefly introduced us to his winery.  The temperature was already beginning to rise with the very hot end of June that all of France has been enduring, so we quickly headed out to the vineyard just below the chateau, and home to our adopted vines.  We spent a few minutes to locate our micro-plot of vines, and encourage them as the grapes start to grow.

Jean-François and Yannick, the Technical Director, then explained the work that has already been carried out in the vineyard during winter and spring to prune and de-bud the vines.  These are both critical tasks to control the quantity and quality of grapes that will be produced. Decreasing the number of grapes and branches, helps the vines to concentrate their energy on the fruit bearing branches.

The short flowering season has recently finished, and we could see the first grapes starting to form.   This is known as fruit set.  For the next few weeks the grapes will gradually get bigger.  This combined with the growth of shoots and leaves, causes the branches to fall into the middle of the rows which isn’t good for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it makes it very difficult to walk down the rows, let alone drive the tractor.  To do so would damage the branches, and so makes it impossible to treat the vines.  This is particularly important in organic wine-making, as the treatments used to protect the vines from mildew and odium get washed away when it rains, so they need to be re-administered.  Secondly the branches that touch the ground would act as highways for fungi spores to spread from the soil to the vines, again putting the vines and grapes at risk.  Thirdly the weight of the foliage and fruit might cause the branches to break.  For all these reasons, and to ensure more sunlight gets to the vines and that there is a better airflow around the grapes, the vines need to be trained using a trellis system.

Having watched Yannick and Jean-François show us how to train the vines, we spread out among the rows and had a go ourselves.  First we raised the training wires on either side of the row, and then clipped them together using a small bio-degradable clip.  We then ensured that all of the branches were growing between the wires, and were supported as best as possible.  Rewarding work, because when you looked back down the rows where we had been, everything was much more orderly than before!

We then headed back to the shade of the garden where we learnt more about the jobs that need to be done in the vineyard between now and the harvest.  The conversation then turned to other topics as diverse as the history of the winery and the introduction of the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system in Burgundy, something that Jean-François’ ancestors were involved in lobbying for.

All of the work and talk had made us thirsty, so to quench it, Jean-François served us a nice chilled 2017 Santenay Saint Jean organic white wine, accompanied by some gougères, a delicious local cheese shoe pastry delicacy.  

Lunch was enjoyed in the relative cool of the harvester’s refectory.  We tasted three of the wineries red wines, starting with the 2017 Burgundy, then the 2015 Santenay Clos des Cornières, and ending with the 2013 Santenay La Comme Premier Cru.

After lunch, Yannick took us on a tour of the fermentation hall and cellar.  Here we were introduced to the wine-making side of the profession, and we marvelled at the site of all the barrels and bottles resting in the vaulted underground cellar.  We’ll be spending more time in the fermentation hall during the Harvest Experience Days in September as we put the grapes into the vats, and we’ll get to taste some of the wines that are in the ageing process during the Vinification Experience Days early next year.

Many thanks to Jean-François and Yannick for giving us a fascinating glimpse into the life of a winemaker.  We’ll appreciate the next bottle of wine we open that little bit more!

Learn more about how to adopt a vin in Burgundy

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The day started with a short presentation of the winery by the owner, Jean-François Chapelle. He talked about the history of his family and the path he took to convert the winery to being organic. The viewpoint from the winery over the surrounding vineyards helped us to understand the make-up of the Burgundy terroir, and their influence on the wines.

We then made our way to the Les Crais and Clos des Cornières vineyards to meet our adopted vines, the first planted with Chardonnay, the second with Pinot Noir vines. We learnt about the vegetative life cycle of the vines and the work necessary to nurture them from when they wake up after winter to harvest time.

We were accompanied by Jean-François, and Yannick, the Technical Director of the vines and cellar.  Between the harvest and December, the winemaker’s time is mainly taken up with the vinification of the vintage that has just been harvested.  But then from December to March, they are very busy in the vineyards, pruning each and every vine manually.  The cut branches are then pulled away from the vines and either crushed in the rows or burned, usually by a different team than those who pruned.  It’s a tough job that takes around 4 months, and must be finished by around mid-March, the time when the first buds start to burst, and the vines spring back to life.

The vines shoots and branches grow quickly at this time of the year, some 30 or more centimetres in a month.  It’s therefore important to manage the growth.  This is also done manually for the most part by de-budding or removing some of the leaves, which also improves the air flow around the vines.

It’s the de-budding that keeps the team busy at the moment.  This task enables the quantity of fruit produced by the vines to be reduced, and thus improve the concentration and aromatic qualities of the remaining grapes.  Reducing the yield helps the grapes to reach optimum maturity, and also helps to increase the life expectancy of the vine plants in the long term.

We’ll be able to see the result of this spring work in September when we reach harvest time.

After this full morning, we returned to the winery for the aperitif and lunch, served with some of the winery’s wines.  A Santenay Saint Jean white wine to start with, followed by a red Burgundy, Santenay Clos des Cornières, and Santenay La Comme Premier Cru.  We compared the wines and enjoyed the fine Burgundy dishes.

In the afternoon, we visited the fermentation hall and cellar for a little insight into the wine-making side of things, something that we will learn more about during the Vinification Experience Days.

We hope that everyone had a good time, and we look forward to welcoming another group soon to Santenay!

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Jean-François Chapelle, the owner of the winery, recounted his family’s involvement at the winery over the generations, and introduced us to a brief history of winemaking in Burgundy and the organisational changes that happened throughout the 20th century.  We also talked about Jean-François’ philosophy of organic winemaking that he introduced to the winery in the early 2000s.

We headed out into the vineyard to meet our adopted vines and to take a few photos.  There are two plots for the Gourmet Odyssey adopt-a-vine experience at Domaine Chapelle.  The Clos des Cornières vineyard, planted with Pinot Noir used to make the red wine of the same name, and the adjacent Les Crais vineyard, planted with Chardonnay to make the Santenay Village white wine.

Simon, Jean-François’ son and successor, then started to talk about the different work that is carried out in the vineyard throughout the lifecycle from one harvest to another, with the aim of producing the optimum quality of grapes.

From the harvest through to December, little is done in the vineyard.  Sometimes a task known as pre-pruning can be carried out whereby the top half of the branches are cut away mechanically to make the pruning that follows easier and quicker.  The vineyard team starts to repair the trellis system where needed at this time too, a task that will be finished before spring sets in and the vines start to grow again.

Starting in December, each vine is pruned manually using one of two techniques:
- The Cordon de Royat method leaves four to five short spurs, each with two eyes on them, on the old wood that grows along the training wire.  Fruit-bearing branches will grow from each of these spurs.
- The Guyot method is a little different and more productive.  Just one branch is selected and cut to about 50-60 cm, or 5 to 6 eyes.  A spur is also left which will form the long branch to be used next year.  The long branch is then attached to the bottom training wire.

The Guyot method is reserved for chardonnay vines in Burgundy, as it is a vine that can support producing a little more.  The pinot noir vines are pruned using the Cordon de Royat method.  Once all of the vines have been pruned, a team passes through the vineyard again to pull the cut wood away from the vines and trellis system, burning the cut branches or crushing them to return nutrients to the soil.

It takes roughly four months to prune all of the vines which cover the 18 hectares of vineyards at Domaine Chapelle.

From around mid-April and depending on the temperature, the buds will start to burst.  Spring is an important period of growth, and many manual tasks are necessary to help nurture the vines through the cycle. De-budding, removing the leaves, raising the training wires…  All of this to help the grapes reach their optimum, and to do so means hiring a small group of 10 seasonal workers to give a helping hand to the permanent team.

During the summer period the vines will be treated using the copper sulphate treatment that is authorised in organic winemaking.  The frequency of treatments depends on how often it rains, but on average it’s every 15 days or so until one month before the harvest.

Sometime in September, depending on the maturity of the grapes, the harvest will start and the yearly cycle will come to a close once more.

After this very informative morning, we headed back to the winery for the aperitif, the excellent Santenay Saint Jean white from the winery.
Lunch was a typical Burgundy affair.  A fish terrine, boeuf bourguignon, regional cheeses and a chocolate, pear and blackcurrant desert. We tasted three different reds, the red Burgundy, a 2015 Santenay Clos des Cornières, and a 2011 Santenay Comme Premier Cru.

We finished this enlightening day with a visit of the cellar.

The next bottle of wine that we open will be appreciated in a different light and we look forward to coming back for the harvest when the grapes have grown and become ripe!

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After a welcome coffee and brief introduction to the day and the idea behind the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience, Jean-François and Simon Chapelle recounted the history of their family and explained the structure of the Burgundy wine-growing region.

They told us how the vineyards had been organised, and the transition of the commercialisation of wine from merchants to the winemakers who took the step to bottle and sell their own wines.

The wines from Domaine Chapelle are organically certified, and Jean-François talked to us about his reasons for embracing organic winemaking and the challenges that it entails.

We then embarked on two different workshops:

One of the workshops taught us how to taste wines and put our noses to the test.  We tried to name the different fruity and floral aromas and the tertiary aromas that are brought through ageing in oak barrels.  It’s a much more difficult task than you at first think.  We also tasted four different solutions that were acidic, sweet, salty and bitter to explain the importance of balance in a wine.

We then made our way into the fermentation hall and admired the different sections that had been created by the successive generations of the family from Jean-François’ grandfather, his father and then the work that he carried out to extend the hall and re-organise the way that the grapes are worked during harvest time.  We learnt about the vinification process before heading down into the vaulted cellar below, where the wines are aged in oak barrels.

The wines are put into the barrels once the alcoholic fermentation has finished, and stay there for 9 to 12 months depending on how they evolve.

The choice of barrel is very important and varies from winery to winery depending on the taste and objectives of each winemaker.  Various factors come into play such as where the oak comes from, how the inside of the barrel was toasted, and the age of the barrel.  The skill of the winemaker is to choose a mix of different barrels that enable a harmonious wine to be produced.

To illustrate the impact of barrels, we compared the same wine that was in the process of ageing in different types of barrel, and marvelled at the big differences aromatically and taste-wise.

Once the ageing period is over, all of the various lots of wine from the same plots will be blended together to prepare the wines for bottling.

The bottles will then be labelled at a later date depending on the regulations of the country that they will be sold in.

After a busy morning absorbing lots of new knowledge, we enjoyed the aperitif in the vinification hall.  To quench our thirst, a Santenay Saint Jean white wine with gougères, a local cheese shoe pastry speciality. 

For lunch we continued the regional theme with some parsley ham, Gaston Gérard chicken, Burgundy cheeses and a three chocolate dessert, accompanied by some of the winery’s red wines, including the Clos des Cornières red chosen for the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

It was difficult to get going again after lunch!  But the walk in the vineyard was good for the digestion!  We went to the Clos des Cornières vineyard and visited our adopted vines.

Simon explained the different plots within the vineyard.  Originally, there were three distinct zones.  The oldest one saw the vines removed last spring, and is currently lying fallow until 2021. The two remaining plots were planted in the 70s and 90s.

We then returned to the cellar for a final wine tasting session of the 2018 Clos des Cornières vintage that is still in the ageing process.  We tasted wines from the two different plots to better understand the impact that the age of the vines has on the characteristics of the wine.

It was then time for this day, rich in information and tasting, to draw to a close.  We left with a few bottles that we’ll appreciate differently now that we know a little more about what goes on to make wine, and having met the people responsible for making it!

We hope that everyone had a good time, and we look forward to welcoming you again soon!

 

Learn how you can adopt some chardonnay or pinot noir vines at Domaine Chapelle and participate in the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

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In 2019, Challenge Millésime Bio received more than 1400 wines entered into the competition.  It was the presided over by Philippe Faure Brac, the World’s Best Sommelier in 1992 and President of the Union de la Sommellerie Française.

The wine tastings saw 183 wines win a gold medal, among them the 2016 vintage of Santenay Beaurepaire Premier Cru red wine, from our adopt-a-vine partner winery in Burgundy, Domaine Chapelle.

Domaine Chapelle spearheaded the development of organic wine in Santenay, and has been a regular winner at this prestigious wine competition over the years. Congratulations once again to all the team.

 

2018 Medal winners

2017 Medal winners

Learn more about adopting vines in Burgundy with Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience

 

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An early harvest

In almost all of France’s wine growing regions, 2018 was a very early year due to the glorious sunny and warm summer that we enjoyed.  In the east of the country, such as in Burgundy or Alsace, they were as much as one month early for the start of the grape harvest.  At Domaine Stentz-Buecher in Wettolsheim, we harvested the pinot noir grapes on the 8th September, where normally we would do so in October.

In some regions, such as for Château de la Bonnelière, near Chinon in the Loire Valley, the summer was so dry and hot, that the maturity of the grapes slowed down at the end of summer, putting back the harvest slightly compared to the forecasts at the start of the summer.

An exceptional quality

All of our partner winemakers agree in saying that the 2018 vintage is an exceptional one in terms of quality, with lovely healthy grapes that had ripened evenly.  The sugar levels needed to produce the alcohol were good with a nice concentration due to the summer heat.

Of course there still remains lots of work to do in the cellar, but all the early signs point to a great year.

A small yield

If the quality is high, the same cannot be said for the yields, the quantity being less than usual in some of the regions.  Alsace had a bumper crop of a great quality, Burgundy and the Loire better yields than the previous few years, but the south and west of France suffered.

The drought during the summer and beginning of autumn caused some of the grapes to dry out.  If it happens just a little, it’s not a big problem, and can even bring some added structure to the wine, but where the grapes dry out too much, they become as hard a pepper corns and have to be removed when harvesting, thus reducing the quantity.

Another problem was caused by the very wet spring which led to mildew attacking many of the wine growing regions, in some places having a significant impact on the yield, such as at Château Coutet in Saint-Emilion, where some of the merlot plots lost as much as 95% of the grapes.

Mildew reduces the yield

This year the fight against mildew was one of the principal preoccupations of our organic partner winemakers.  With such a rainy autumn, it was often impossible to treat the vines, or when they were able to be treated, the next rain shower would fall quickly afterwards and wash the protection away, as organic treatments remain on the surface of the leaves and don’t penetrate inside the plant.

For example, in Saint-Emilion, more than 30mm of rain fell continuously for 10 consecutive days.  The mildew set in on the leaves, and then developed on the grapes during the summer, causing them to become dry and hard.  In the Côtes du Rhône region, Domaine de la Guicharde, was also affected in their Grenache plots, and Domaine Allegria noted the same for their Carignan vines.

But a smaller yield generally means that the remaining grapes are of a higher quality.  Now the role of the winemaker in the cellar to vinify, age and blend the wines will come into effect, and will play a crucial role in developing and defining the quality of the 2018 vintage.  We look forward to tasting the wines in the cellar as they evolve during our Vinification Experience Days next year.


Interested in learning more and getting involved in harvesting the grapes in an award-winning French organic winery?  You can do so with a Harvest Experience Day with the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

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The harvest is always a busy time for the winemakers and their teams, but Jean-François Chapelle had set aside three days to explain the work at harvest time, to recount his family’s history with the winery, and to share his organic work philosophy.

After a welcome coffee in the harvesters’ refectory, we were introduced to the day ahead in the garden of the château. Jean-François also told us a little about the history of the Burgundy wine-growing region.

We then made our way to the Clos des Cornières vineyard to catch up with our adopted vines. As usual, the cameras clicked away, as the participants tried to capture the most original photo for the annual My Vine photo competition. Don’t forget to send in your entries!

It was now time to get down to the serious business of the day. Equipped with a pair of secateurs each, Jean-François briefed us in how to be the perfect harvester. We learnt that the grapes to pick are only to be found between the first two training wires, and only those bunches which are of a uniform blue colour. Anything that isn’t ripe is left on the vine.

As the year had been particularly hot and dry, the grapes on some of the bunches had become a little withered. These we kept, as they help to give character to the wine. However, the berries that had completely dried out were removed from the bunch before being put into the tray.

And so we started to harvest in perfect conditions. About an hour and a few plasters later (being an apprentice harvester isn’t as easy as all that!), the trays were full and the vine rows perfectly harvested.

The harvest this year is of an exceptional quality. Beautiful, healthy grapes, uniformly ripe, and a yield that is plentiful compared to the last few years!

We then followed the grapes back to the winery where they were emptied on to the sorting table for the second check of the quality before being put into the vats. Here any grapes that aren’t of a good enough quality and any leaves are removed. The remaining grapes then fall into the de-stemming machine for the berries to be separated from the stems. The grapes then make their way by trolley to a conveyor belt that carries them up into the fermentation vats.

By this time it was now time for the aperitif. We tasted a Santenay 1er Cru Gravières white wine, accompanied by some traditional Burgundy gougères.

Lunch was served in the harvesters’ refectory. A Burgundy tourte for starter, followed by veal medallions and mushroom crumble, a local cheese platter, and raspberry desert. These delicious dishes were accompanied by three of the red wines produced by Domaine Chapelle, a 2016 Burgundy red, a 2015 Santenay “Clos des Cornières”, and a 2013 Chassagne Montrachet “Morgeot” Premier Cru.

After lunch we returned to the fermentation hall to put the grapes into the vats, and to learn about the fermentation process that will turn the grape juice into wine, and how the vats are worked during the maceration period to extract the colour and tannins from the skins

It was a fun and informative day. We had all worked hard, and progressed from our status of apprentice harvester. We now have to wait a while before tasting this very promising 2018 vintage that will surely be one of the great vintages. We’ll be able to check when we come back for the Vinification Experience Days at the beginning of 2019.

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The sun was shining brightly, and so we made ourselves at home in the winery’s garden, overlooking the Clos des Cornières vineyard where our adopted pinot noir vines are located. 

Jean-François, the winemaker and owner at Domaine Chapelle introduced us to the winery and gave us a recap of the 2017 vintage. He also pointed out the different terroir found in the surrounding vineyards to get a better understanding of the geology and its impact on the hierarchy of the Burgundy AOC system. The surrounding area is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We then split into two groups, one of which went first with Jean-François for a visit of the cellar and to taste the 2017 vintage directly from the barrel, and the other group stayed with Yvette, Jean-François’ wife, to develop their senses that would be put to the test during the wine tasting to come. The groups then swapped over.

Jean-François explained how the sugar in the grapes is transformed into alcohol during the first fermentation phase after the harvest.  We also had the honour of tasting some of the 2017 wines that are currently still in the ageing process, drawing them by pipette directly from the barrel.

Yvette helped us discover and identify the aromas that can be found in Burgundy wines, and explained where they come from, whether it’s from the grape and quality of the grape, or from the vinification and ageing process. 

We then put our new found knowledge to the test as we tasted different wines from Domaine Chapelle, starting with a glass of the chardonnay AOC Santenay Saint Jean white wine.

During lunch we enjoyed some local dishes of jambon persillé, Gaston Gérard chicken, local cheeses and a chocolate and blackcurrant entremets desert, accompanied by three red wines from Domaine Chapelle, the 2014 Santenay Clos des Cornières, the 2011 Santenay La Comme Premier Cru and the 2013 Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot Premier Cru.

After lunch we headed out into the vineyard to meet our adopted vines, and see how they are preparing for the 2018 vintage. We encouraged them to continue their good work, and passed the baton to the adoptive owners of the 2018 vintage!

Jean-François explained the three different ages of vines that are used in making the Clos des Cornières wine. The 2017 vintage will be the last for a while to use the three different aged vines because the oldest plot of vines was uprooted earlier in the year.  It will be replanted with young vines, but it will take a few more years before any grapes will be produced.

Back at the winery, we tasted the wines that are currently ageing from these three different aged vines, and so could see for ourselves the difference in quality. Each of the three plots is picked, vinified, and aged separately before being blended when it comes time to bottle the wine.  We noted that the tannins were much softer for the oldest vines, whilst they were still marked for the youngest plot. The winemaker can balance these different styles when blending the final wine.

We had spent a very enjoyable day in Santenay at Domaine Chapelle and can’t wait to taste the 2017 Clos des Cornières wine when it is finished!

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Simon, the son of Jean-François and Yvette and who will one day take over from them in the running of the winery, was with us for the day, joined by the Technical Director, Yannick.  Simon began by explaining the history of the winery and of the Burgundy wine-growing region.

We then ventured out into the vineyard where we divided into two groups to learn about the work to nurture the vines.

We learnt how the vines had been pruned and the remaining branches attached to the training wire. This vital work had been finished in March. The first buds then burst into life in the third week of April, and we could see how the branches had started to grow, already revealing several leaves per branch and the formation of the clusters from which the flowers will appear to produce the future grapes.

The principal activity in the vineyard at the moment is de-budding, and we learnt how to reduce the number of branches to limit the quantity of grapes that will be produced. This is an essential step to control the yield and produce the best possible grapes.

We then had a go at de-budding ourselves under the watchful eye of Simon and Yannick. We proved to be a very conscientious team of de-budders being very much aware of the impact of our actions on the future harvest, and we came away from the day as confirmed specialists!

By now, we had reached the hour for the aperitif, and we enjoyed a Santenay Saint Jean 2016 white wine in the courtyard, accompanied by some delicious Burgundy gougères.

We then sat down to lunch of a perch terrine, beef bourguignon, a selection of local cheeses, and a delicious chocolate entremets for dessert, accompanied by a 2014 Burgundy red, the 2014 vintage of the Santenay Clos des Cornières wine, chosen for the Gourmet Odyssey Experience, and finishing with a  2011 Santenay La Comme Premier Cru red wine.

After lunch we had a quick tour of the fermentation hall and cellar with Yannick. We will be spending more time here during the Harvest and Vinification Experience Days to come.

Many thanks to Yannick and Simon, and to all of the participants for making it such a great day.

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This wine experience day was split into different workshops to learn about everything that happens at the winery between the harvest and the wine being ready for bottling and labelling.  And so the day started in the loading bay where the grapes are put into the wine presses.  Odile, the head wine-maker at the winery, told us how the presses are controlled to extract the juice from the grapes.

We then learnt all about how the wines are settled and the wines  are clarified to separate the juice from the larger solid particles of pips and skin that made it through the membrane of the press.  Once this has happened the juice then continues its journey into one of the vats where it will remain during the fermentation process.

Odile explained how the sugar in the grape juice is transformed into alcohol over the following weeks.

Once the fermentation has finished, the wines are racked to separate them from the larger lee particles, and they are left to age on their finer lees to develop their depth and structure.  To better understand the process she let us taste some of the wines directly from the vats, including the wine that we will end up with at the end of the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.  It’s a rare opportunity to taste wines in their unfinished state.

Before the wines are ready to be bottled, they are racked again and filtered to clarify them further, and to ensure that no impurities are left in the wine that might cause it to spoil in the bottle.  We then made our way to the production line to see where the bottling takes place, and we discussed the merits of the different options of sealing the bottles, by cork, screw-cap or other materials.

After bottling, the wine is laid to rest again and then stored until ready for labelling.  Odile showed us the labelling machine that sticks on the front and back label and adds the capsule on top of the bottles.  The bottles are then boxed up and ready for sale or distribution.  It’s an impressive sight!

The next workshop was to learn how to taste wine and prepare us for the wine tasting session to come.  We use all of our senses when tasting wine, and we first put our noses to the test to try and identify different aromas found in white wine, either due to the different grape varietals or from having been aged in oak.  It’s not as easy as you would think!

We then tasted different sweet, saline, acidic, and bitter solutions to see if there was any difference in where we could feel them in our mouths.

It was then time to taste the wines.  We had three sets of wines to taste, and had to try and identify what the different factor was between the wines in each set.  The wine tasting session had been organised to show the difference between terroir, grape varietals, and the way in which the wine is aged.

We tasted a wide range of different Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru wines, and continued the tasting over the delicious lunch which had been prepared at the winery by a local caterer.

After lunch, we took in some air, and headed out into the vineyard to meet our adopted vines.  We took a few photographs and admired the surrounding landscape of rolling Chablis vineyards.

Back at the winery, we descended into the cellar where the far wall had been left bare, revealing the strata of limestone and marl that give the Chablis wines their character.

The final stop of the day was to visit the fermentation hall that houses the wooden casks for the wines that are aged in oak.  Here Jean-Louis explained the role of the casks, and we had ended the day with a last wine tasting to see how the oak casks influence the structure of the wine.

It had been a fascinating day to have a glimpse of the life of a wine-maker.  We’ll now have to wait patiently until our wine has finished ageing, but we’ll know that the wait has been worth it!

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After a brief introduction to this day focused on pruning and attaching the vines, Simon Chapelle, the son of Jean-François and future winemaker at the winery, recounted the history of the family winery and how the different Burgundy wine appellations are defined.

We then headed to the Clos des Cornières vineyard, accompanied by Simon and Yannick, the technical director at Domaine Chapelle. This is where our adopted pinot noir vines are located and we took a few minutes to take a few photos!

Split into two groups, Simon and Yannick then explained the work necessary in the vineyard during the winter and spring months to arrive at a quality harvest, and they told us how they work organically at the winery.

The Clos des Cornières vineyard produces the eponymous wine, and is planted solely with pinot noir vines, as in Burgundy, there is no blending of different grape varietals. The quality of the 2018 vintage therefore relies on the quality of grapes that will be harvested this autumn, and the quality is determined for a large part on the ever so important work of the moment, the pruning of the vines.

Simon and Yannick explained which branches to keep, which to cut and how many buds to leave on each vine. This will directly impact the yield of each vine. They also enlightened us as to the many questions that have to be answered when thinking about how to prune each vine. Armed with a pair of secateurs, it was then our turn to put the theory into practice! Despite some hesitation at first, we gradually started to get the hang of this difficult job!

After pruning the next task is to bend the branches that haven’t been cut away. We crossed the road to the neighbouring vineyard that is planted with chardonnay vines, and is more advanced in the pruning. This is also an important step because by folding the branch and attaching it to the bottom training wire, it helps ensure that the sap will flow more evenly among all of the future fruit-bearing canes, and that they will be better spaced to avoid disease from spreading.

We then headed back to the winery to enjoy an aperitif outside in the courtyard whilst soaking up more of the spring sunshine! Some gougères, a typical Burgundy shoe pastry specialty, and the winery’s Santenay Saint-Jean white wine delighted our taste buds!

We continued the local specialties over a tasty lunch of other local dishes of perch terrine, boeuf bourguignon, local cheeses and a chocolate and cassis entremet. Lunch was accompanied by a Burgundy 2016 red, a Santenay Clos des Cornières 2013, and a Santenay Premier Cru “Les Gravières” 2012.

After lunch we had a tour of the vinification hall and labyrinth of vaulted cellars underneath the winery to see where the wines ferment and age.  

We’ll now leave it to the winemakers to continue to care for the vines, and wait for the grapes to develop and grow for the harvest. We’re looking forward to coming back already!

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