Harvest Experience Day in the Languedoc
- Categories :
- Wine Making
- Enjoying Wine
- Languedoc-Roussillon
- Allegria
After the introductions, we headed out into the vineyard and listened attentively to the instructions on how to harvest. We carefully picked the grapes and put them into crates that could hold 15 kg of grapes, which we then stored in the shade of the vinification hall. The temperature quickly rose, but we remained in good cheer. The grapes that we tasted as we picked confirmed that the harvest was a very good one, and that we should be able to look forward to a good vintage from the wine made using this plot.
As with many wine-growing regions of France, this year has been great weather-wise because the sun and summer heat allowed the grapes to reach optimum maturity, without being infected by any disease of rot. This made our job of harvesting that much easier too because there was practically nothing to sort!
Once we had finished the harvest, we followed the grapes journey into the vats. First of all we removed any leaves that had inadvertently made their way into the crates, and some dried out and shrivelled grapes that had been burnt by the sun. The remaining bunches were then put into a de-stemming machine that separates the berries from the stalks which, if left in the vat during the maceration period, would make the wine too strong and would bring unwanted herbaceous aromas. Sometimes, in certain conditions, we can choose to leave some of the stems during the maceration period, but that remains a choice for the winemaker to make!
After the morning’s hard work, the aperitif was very welcome, with a tasting of a magnum of the 2019 Dolce Vita rosé. We then sat down to a nice lunch prepared by Delphine, which was accompanied by other wines from Domaine Allegria.
In the afternoon, we headed back out into the vineyard, for a digestive walk, and to find our adopted vines in a plot of Syrah. The grapes will be blended with some Mourvèdre grapes to create the Tribu d’A wine once they have sufficiently aged. We’ll learn more about these stages of winemaking next year during the Vinification Experience Days!