Last weekend, we were at Château Beau Rivage in Macau-en-Médoc for the Gourmet Odyssey Harvest Experience Days.  They were the last two days of the 2013 harvest at the winery, so we had to make sure that we got all the grapes safely into the chai!

As soon as everyone was equipped with a pair of secateurs, we ventured out into the vineyard to receive our instruction on how to harvest, which grapes to pick, and which to leave behind.

On Saturday we started with a plot of Cabernet Franc vines to be used for making rosé wine.  We picked the bunches of grapes in cases, and once filled, we loaded them onto a trailer.

For the rest of the morning and for our Sunday team of harvesters, we harvested some plots of Cabernet Sauvignon.  On Sunday, we used a different harvesting technique, using porters to transfer the grapes from the harvesters to the trailer.

Once we had finished harvesting, we followed the grapes journey to the chai.  For the rosé, we emptied the crates directly into a small press to extract the juice.

On Sunday, for the red wine, we first put the grapes into a de-stemming machine to separate the berries from the stalks.  Then, around the sorting table, we removed any unripe berries, leaves and even a few insects, keeping only the best grapes.

After all that work, the rosé wine was most welcome for the aperitif!  We continued the tasting of the estate's wines during the harvesters meal which we ate in the shelter of one of the barns.

In the afternoon, we visited the chai to understand more about the fermentation process and the work in the chai during harvest time. Christine took out her mustimetre to show us how the sugar level in the grapes is measured.

We finished the day in the barrel room to see where the wine will rest and age once the first stage of fermentation has finished.

Many thanks to Christine, Guillaume and the team at Château Beau Rivage, as well as our clients for making it such a good weekend, and also for having worked so hard despite the odd drop of rain!

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in Alsace, the last of the 7 organic wineries to have partnered with Gourmet Odyssey. The sky was grey, but that didn't dampen the spirits of our apprentice harvesters!

Once the adoptive vine owners had arrived, Céline who manages the winery with her brother Stéphane, told us about history of this family estate. We then headed out to the vineyard where the adopted vines are located. For those who were returning after one of the Discovery Experience Days, they could see how their vines had been pampered, and for the others, it was the chance to meet them and take a few photos!

We then moved on to a vineyard lower down the village to harvest a plot of Riesling grapes. On the way we picked some Chasselas grapes to take home and eat. The goal for the day was to fill two containers, so each armed with a pair of secateurs and a bucket, we started to harvest the grapes.

After the morning spent in the vineyard, we returned to the winery, where Stéphane explained how the grapes are put into the vats and how the juice ferments to produce wine. We tasted some grape juice which had been put into the vat 3 days beforehand, before tasting some of the wines, Rielsing Tradition 2010, Pinot Gris Rosenberg 2010, Gewurztraminer Hengst 2008 and Pinot Noir 2011.

We finished the day with a harvesters buffet of local charcuterie, accompanied by the domaine's wines, ending with a Crémant d'Alsace sparkling wine with the dessert.

We'll know leave the wine to slowly ferment before our next visit for one of the Vinification Experience Days.

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All week, the Gourmet Odyssey team anxiously monitored the weather forecast as Jean-Franois, the winemaker at Domaine Chapelle, was predicting rain for the weekend. In the end, the wet conditions didn't dampen the spirits, and we had a great group who were fully motivated to participate in the harvest. Those lucky enough to have chosen the Monday even saw some sunshine!

Each morning we welcomed the adoptive owners of vines in the "Clos des Cornires" vineyard. After a coffee and a short introduction to the winery, we set off to the vineyard. With a few explanations from Jean-Franois and plenty of good humour, we set about harvesting the grapes.

We then followed the grapes to the reception hall to sort the grapes and track their journey into the vats.

Whilst some got stuck in around the sorting table, secateurs in hand, under the instruction of Yannick, the Technical Director, others watched the grapes climb the conveyor belt and fall into the vat. Jean-Franois talked us through the first stages of fermentation and how the grape juice will gradually transform into wine.

After a busy morning, it was time to taste some of the estate's wines, accompanied by one of the local specialties, gougres, before sitting down to lunch in the harvesters' refectory. The conversation, food and wine flowed, and it was difficult to get going again afterwards!

The days finished with a visit of the cellar, an impressive labyrinth of barrels and bottles.

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09:30 For this first Harvest Experience Day at Domaine la Cabotte, the day was forecast to be cloudy, but thankfully there shouldn't be any rain before tomorrow. Ideal conditions for harvesting without getting too hot. Everybody looked motivated, we'd find out once we're in the vineyard !

Marie-Pierre, the owner of the winery along with her husband Eric, introduced us to the region and the history of Domaine la Cabotte, and explained why the harvest this year is 2-3 weeks later than in a normal year.

10:00 We started the day in the plot where the adopted vines are located to see and take a few pictures of our vines. Eric explained that the grapes are not as abundant as usual, and that they are not quite mature enough to be picked, so we headed off to another plot of white Grenache grapes lower down in the vineyard.

10:30 The buckets and secateurs were awaiting us, and after Eric explained how to harvest the bunches, we spread out amongst the rows in pairs to get down to work! In the middle of the first row, the sun came out and it started to heat up. Would we get to the end?! Marie-Pierre kept our spirits up by making us think of the wine tasting and meal to come! After the first row and a quick refreshment stop, we set off to harvest a second row each - uphill this time! We must have started to get the hang of it, because we were getting much quicker, or was it in anticipation of the wine tasting?!

13:00 Mission accomplished in filling the two trailers with grapes. We followed them back to the chai where we emptied our harvest into the press and set it going for 2 hours of pressing. Eric reckoned that it would give about 1000 litres of juice. Whilst waiting for the press to do its thing, we quenched our thirst by tasting some of the estate's wines. We started with the Colline Ctes du Rhne white wine, made from the same plot that we had just harvested, but last year in 2012. We then tasted the Colline red and the Gabriel 2011.

13:30 Under the shade of the trees, we continued the tasting with the Garance 2011, accompanied by the delicious home-made meal prepared by Marie-Pierre. We ended the meal with cheese and desert accompanied by the Sauvageonne 2012 white wine.
15h00 After the coffee and the meal, it was difficult to get going again, but the hard work was now behind us. As the press finished the last part of its cycle, Eric explained the differences between working with the harvest for white and red wines, and talked us through the first stages of fermentation. We then finished the day by tasting the juice from the grapes that we had harvested and that from another lot which had been picked a few days earlier. Having finished being pressed, the juice from our harvest was then put into a refrigerated vat. The discarded stems, skin and pips will then be taken to the distillery. Finally we had harvested enough to produce some 1500 litres of juice! 

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We had to delay the Harvest Experience Day this year by 8 days due to the cold spring that slowed the growth of the vines. At the beginning of September, we were 15 days behind last year. In 2012, we harvested our Roussanne vines on the 29th August. This year, we had to wait until 10 am on the 14th September for the first snip of secateurs on this plot.

The grapes had started to have a nice brown and golden colour, a sign that they were now ripe. The grape bunches are carefully cut and transported in 15kg crates to be stocked next to the press. The temperature remained fairly mild, not going over 23°C. So much the better because it is preferential to press the grapes when it is relatively cool to avoid the risk of oxidation.

Once the entire plot had been harvested, we headed back to the winery for a well deserved lunch prepared by Delphine. Accompanied of course with a tasting of all the wines produced by Domaine Allegria!

During this time, the crates of Roussanne waited patiently in the shade next to the press. In the afternoon each of the participants carried the crates and emptied them into the press, and by mid afternoon, it was filled with our day's harvest.

One hour and fifteen minutes later of pressing gave birth to 2000 litres of Roussanne which will be fermented in oak barrels.

Many thanks to Ghislain and Delphine for their very hospitable welcome, and to our apprentice winemakers for their enthusiasm!

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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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We spent the morning in the vineyard.  Ghislain showed us how to harvest the grapes - which bunches to cut and which to leave on the vine.  Secateurs in hand, we then spread out among the rows to get stuck in!

We harvested the plot of Carignan vines, a grape variety that is particularly liked by Ghislain and Delphine, placing the grapes in cases to later transport the harvest to the chai.

With the sun now directly overhead, the aperitif was particularly welcome!  We headed back to the winery to find some shade and sit down to the harvester's meal, accompanied by a tasting of the different wines that Allegria makes.

In the afternoon, our task was to put our harvest into the fermentation tanks.  First we emptied the cases into the de-stemming machine that separates the grapes from the stalks.   The grapes are then gently pushed through a pipe into the tank where the fermentation begins to transform the sugar into alcohol.  Ghislain explained the fermentation process and talked about the different methods used in making white and rosé wines.

A huge thank you to Ghislmain and Delphine for their welcome, and to our clients for their enthusiasm and hard work!  We harvested more than a ton of grapes!

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There's much to do in the vineyard at this time of year, and the rainy weather that we've had for the past couple of weeks hasn't helped matters. Fortunately we were lucky enough to have a window of sunshine last weekend to accompany us in the vineyard during the

We gathered in the château's garden, overlooking the surrounding vines, for the introductions. To get our bearings, Jean-François, the winemaker and owner, briefly told us the history of the region and of his family that have been making wine here for four generations.
In the Clos des Cornières vineyard, where the adopted vines of the Gourmet Odyssey clients are located, we learnt about the difference in Burgundy terroirs. It's easier to understand when you can look around you and see the differences rather than reading about it in a book or looking at a map.

To make quality wine, you have to have quality grapes; something that involves much hard work and tender loving care. From pruning to the harvest, each task is important to try and obtain the best possible grapes and to limit the risk of disease. We learnt about the many tasks, often manual, and passages that are necessary. 

The vines at Domaine Chapelle are organically certified, so we also learnt about the differences that entails compared to conventional farming.

In front of the adopted vines, a small chalk board identified each separate micro-plot. We took a few minutes out so that the introductions could be made with the new owners, and the photographs taken! 

Then the time had come to roll up the sleeves and lend a helping hand to the winery to catch up some of the lost time. The jobs of the day: de-budding and raising the training wires.

De-budding involves removing some of the non fruit-bearing shoots to better concentrate the fruits energy in the ones that will produce the grapes. Once we had been given our instructions on how to do it, we spread out among the rows and got stuck in! 

The other task to be done was the "relevage". The vine is a creeper plant and if its growth isn't controlled will spread everywhere. We had to raise the training wires and make sure that the shoots were supported on either side by a wire, and so grow upwards. It is also important to separate the shoots from the neighbouring vines, using clips when necessary. Relevage helps to protect the branches from the passing tractors, and reduces the risk of disease and rotting of the future grapes by improving the flow or air around the plant. 

By this time the thirst was beginning to set in, so we headed back to the winery to start the wine tasting. For the aperitif we tasted a Santenay white wine and compared it with a Meursault on the Satrurday and a Chassgne Montrachet on the Sunday.

Lunch was served in the harvesters refectory, and we continued the tasting with some of the estate's red wines, a Santenay Clos des Cornières, a Santenay Premier Cru and an Aloxe Corton. 

We started the afternoon in the cuverie. It's here that the grapes are received at harvest time and we were introduced to the various stages of fermentation that will transform the sugar into alcohol. 

The day ended in with a tour of the cellar. It's a real labyrinth of passages and rooms full of wine ageing in oak barrels and thousands of bottles resting the calm. 

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Last weekend we completed our tour for 2011 of the Harvest Experience Days for each of our partner vineyards at Château Beau Rivage in Macau-en-Médoc.  A turquoise blue sky and warm welcome were waiting for us.

The Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience clients gathered around a cup of coffee at the start of the morning.  For some, it was the second time they had visited the estate, having already participated in the Wine Discovery Experience Day, for others it was their very first time.  We therefore started the proceedings with an introduction by Christine Nadalié, the owner and winemaker at Château Beau Rivage.

Then out into the vineyard we headed! We walked to the vineyard plot where the rows of adopt-a-vines are located.  A small sign, personalised with the name of each client, indicated the position of their vines.  There was time to take a few pictures next to the vines which had produced the precious grapes for the 2011 vintage, before getting down to some real work!

Having received our instructions from Christine, we spread out amongst the vine rows, secateurs in hand to start the harvest.  It was the last few days of this year's harvest at the domaine, and some of the grapes were showing signs of botrytis which had settled during the wet days at the start of September, so we had to do some sorting in-situ.  The healthy grapes were very ripe and oh so sweet - a real treat for our taste buds!

We tried two different harvesting methods on the Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday we used a team of porters with baskets strapped to their backs.  Each time the harvesters had filled their buckets, they cried out "Porter" and emptied the grapes into the porter's basket.

The porters then carried the grapes to the trailer, and emptied them over their heads.  With the weight of the fully laden basket and whilst balancing on a ladder, they had to keep their equilibrium!

On Sunday we harvested using plastic crates instead of buckets, which is gentler on the grapes.  Instead of carrying baskets on their backs, the porters wore a frame that the crates could be loaded onto to take to the van and trailer waiting nearby.  Christine wanted to test this method because the grapes are less crushed by the weight of the other bunches.

Following the grapes on their journey, we arrived at the sorting table.  Once the stems had been separated from the grapes, the berries move along the conveyor belt, giving us a final opportunity to remove any unripe or bad grapes before they enter the fermentation tank.

All that activity added up to good morning's work, so the chilled rosé was most welcome!

During the harvesters meal, we tasted some of the estate's other wines, starting with the "Raphaël" Bordeaux Supérieur red wine.  We then tasted the "Silvio" and the "Clementine" before the "Château Beau Rivage" 2007, which is the wine chosen for the Gourmet Odyssey clients.  We finished the wine tasting with "Le Phare", a blend of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec which has been aged in 100% new oak barrels for two years, and Christine's "Clos la Bohème" Haut-Médoc red wine.

In the afternoon, we headed to the fermentation hall and the barrel room to complete the journey of our grapes!  Christine explained how the sugar from the fruit will be transformed into alcohol during the fermentation process.

With the help of a mustimètre, Christine measured the density of the juice from the grapes that we had just harvested.  This measure allows us to know the level of sugar in the liquid and gives a good indication of the potential alcoholic volume of the resulting wine - in this case 14.5%.

In the barrel room we saw where the 2011 wines will be aged, and where some of the 2009s and the 2010s are still resting.  With her cooper's expertise, Christine taught us about the role of oak in the making of her wines.

To end the day, one last tasting of the fruit of our labour, the grape juice that we had harvested over the weekend.  The verdict, a very sweet juice!  The mustimètre hadn't been lying!

All that remains is to patiently await the ageing and blending of our wine...

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We spent last weekend at Château de la Bonnelière in Chinon.  Surrounded by the beautiful Loire Valley countryside and under a blue sky, we met up with some of the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience clients for the first Harvest Experience Day at the winery.

The aim of this wine course is to discover what it's like to be a winemaker in a very practical and fun way. It's a sharing of knowledge between the winemaker and the clients, who learn in-situ the different facets of the profession by rolling up their sleeves and actively participating in the work themselves!

Following the introduction from Marc Plouzeau, the owner and winemaker at Château de la Bonnelière, we started the day with another introduction, that of the adopted vines!  Included in each client's Wine Experience are a number of adopt-a-vines.  At the beginning of each row of vines, a small personalised sign indicates the owner of the adopted vines, providing a photo opportunity to immortalise the moment in front of the vines, laden with ripe grapes!

But we weren't there just to take photos!  Marc had brought us a van full of crates, which we then distributed among the rows.

Marc showed us how to harvest; which grapes to cut and which to leave behind. At Château de la Bonnelière, the sorting of the grapes is done in the vineyard at the time of harvesting, and not on the sorting table, as is the custom in some wineries. It's therefore very important to only harvest the ripe grapes to ensure the quality of the wine to follow!

Secateurs and baskets in hand, we spread out among the vines in teams of two to start the harvest!

The vines at Château de la Bonnelière are bursting with grapes this year and the fruit is looking very healthy despite the wet end to the summer that the region suffered. The smile on Marc's face showed that he was happy with the condition of the grapes. It's the end of another cycle in the vineyard, but many hours, much energy and devotion have been spent in the vineyard since the last harvest to get to this point. The vine is a creeper plant, and so can grow all by itself, but to ensure that the grapes contain enough sugar to make a quality wine, it demands lots of work, especially when they are cultivated organically.

The baskets filled up quickly! Once full, we transferred the grapes into the crates before moving onto the next vines in the row.

At the end of the morning, all of the crates had been filled! A tractor was waiting for us at the edge of the vineyard, and we loaded our precious harvest onto the trailer. We were surprised to learn from Marc that we our efforts represented roughly 1000 bottles! Not bad at all, especially as it was the first harvest for each of the clients!

Following our grapes, we arrived at the chai to put our harvest into the fermentation tanks ourselves!

Again in teams of two we emptied the crates into the de-stemming machine, which separates the grapes from the stalks. 

The grapes fall into a trolley underneath the machine and the stems fall the other side into a large bucket. The stems will be used as compost and spread among the vines to return some of the nutrients to the soil.

With the help of a forklift truck, the whole grape berries are then put into the top of the vats, where the fermentation will start to turn the sugar into alcohol.

All of this work had made us thirsty, so back to the winery to taste some of the estate's wines around a few old wooden wine barrels.  Accompanied by some locally-made rillettes, we tasted the Touraine Sauvignon 2010 white wine, followed by a Chinon rosé 2010.

We then sat down in the shade to savour the delicious meal, prepared by Madame Plouzeau, Marc's mother. The tomato salad will be remembered for a very long time to come ! The tomatoes were picked just a few hundred metres away, and were truly bursting with flavor!  She had also prepared a Blanquette de Veau, a selection of local Loire cheeses and an apple and rhubarb crumble. And of course we had some wine to accompany these delicacies; a Chinon "Rive Gauche" 2009, a Chinon "Château de la Bonnelière" 2009, and the 2009 and 2008 vintages of the Chinon "Chapelle".

After the meal, there was still some work to be done, so we headed back to the chai.  In the fermentation tanks, the grape skins rise to the top to form a cap above the liquid. It's the skin however that gives the colour and much of the wine's structure through the tanins that it contains. It's therefore vital to mix the liquid and the skins. There are various ways to do this. You can push the skin down into the liquid using the "pigeage" technique, or you can do the opposite by taking the liquid from the bottom of the vat and putting it back in the top so that the juice extracts the colour and tannins from the skin as it passes through the cap. This is method is called "remontage".

During the first stages of fermentation, Marc prefers remontage. To do so, we put a big bucket in front of the vat, and opened a tap to let the juice flow into it. We then put in place the tubes and pump to carry the liquid into the top of the vat.

We couldn't leave without tasting the fruit of our labour, so we ended the day by tasting a cabernet franc that had been harvested a few days before and so the fermentation had already started. This lightly fermented grape juice is called "Bernache" in the region. We then compared it to a cabernet franc rosé where the fermentation was already more advanced.

Sincere thanks to all those who came and particularly to Marc for having showed us behind the scenes during the busy harvest period.  We can't wait until the next Wine Experience Day!

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Another weekend, another region and a new Harvest Experience Day!  This time we were at Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard in Chablis with some of our Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience clients to harvest the Chardonnay grapes!

As soon as the clients had all safely arrived, we headed straight into the vineyard to receive our orders from Frédéric Guegen, the Vineyard Director.  He split us into two teams of harvesters and porters.

Armed with a pair of secateurs and a bucket, the harvesters paired up to pick the grapes from both sides of the vine rows.  Paying particular attention to their fingers, the harvest began!

The grapes at the winery hold much promise this year.  They have a good balance between sugar and acidity, and have grown in abundance!  At the end of the harvest, the yield should be about 25% more than last year.  The buckets were therefore filling up quickly, and it didn't take long for the first cries of "Porter" to resonate!

Each member of the porter team found themselves with a big basket strapped to their back, their mission being to carry the bunches of grapes to the trailer located at the edge of the vineyard.  As soon as the bucket is full, the harvesters call for to the porters to come, and then empty the fruit into the porter's basket.  It's a physical job, especially as a full basket can weigh up to 60kg.  You often think that the basket is full long before it actually is! With the rolling landscape of Chablis, you also have the slopes to deal with!

Emptying the baskets is not as easy as it looks either, especially the first time.  You have to climb a ladder and then let the grapes fall over your head.  Some porters almost followed the grapes in!

Working together, it's impressive how quickly the vines are stripped of their fruit.  It gave us more than enough to work with afterwards though!

Back at the winery, the moment for the wine tasting came.  First up, a Petit Chablis 2010, followed by a Chablis "Domaine Sainte Claire" 2009 which we then compared to a Chablis "Vielles Vignes de Sainte Claire" 2009.  We continued the tasting with the wine from the adopted vines of Gourmet Odyssey clients,   "La Boissonneuse" 2009, before savouring a few of the Chablis Premier Crus; a "Vau de Vey" 2009, a "Montée de Tonnerre" 2009 and a "Vaulorent" 2008.

Overlooking the vines, we tucked into the Harvesters Meal!  The tasting continued with a few of the estate's Irancy red wines and a few of the older Chablis vintages, served in magnums, such as the Chablis "Vielles Vignes de Sainte Claire" 2001.

Each day was a little different.  On Saturday, the winery was in full action because the team of professional harvesters was also working.  This meant that the mechanic presses were up and running.  We rejoined our grapes that we had lovingly harvested at the fermentation hall, to see them emptied from the trailer into the press below.  The press then buzzed into life as it extracted and separated the juice from the skin, pips and stalks.

Continuing the journey of our harvest, we ended up in front of the tank where the fermentation will begin.  Glass in hand, we tasted the fruit of our labour, an oh so sweet grape juice!  We then had the chance to compare it to the juice from another vat, where the alcoholic fermentation had already begun for several days.

The estate's harvesters had been working in a pinot noir plot of vines, located in the nearby Côte d"Auxerre.  How the grapes are treated and put into the fermentation tanks differs from the chardonnay, so we were able to contrast the methods used for red and white wines.  Our first observation was the use of a sorting table.  We each took up position either side of the table to sort the good from blemished or unripe grapes.   Then we watched as the grapes are stripped from their stalks and then put into the tanks without any pressing.

Sunday being a day of rest for the harvesters, the electric presses weren't operating.  That gave us the opportunity to discover how the grapes were pressed in days gone by!  The estate still has a few old wooden pressing machines, and one of the longer-serving members of staff, Jean-Bernard, helped us get one of the legendary presses up and running!

Once filled, we put in place the wooden planks and the gearing that would press the grapes.  To work the press, we had to move a long iron handle to and fro.  Easy at first, but it became more and more resistant as time wore on! You have to be patient because if you go too quickly, the juice doesn't have time to flow out.

Even if it takes much longer, the grape juice, tasted directly from the press, was still as sweet and delicious as the day before!

Many thanks to Céline, Frédéric and the team at Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard for having welcomed us so warmly.  We're longing to taste the finished 2011 vintage!

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At last, the long awaited moment has arrived to start the harvest!  The villages and vineyards are a hive of activity.  Teams of harvesters are dotted amongst the vines from the crack of dawn, and the roads are filled with the tractors that go back and forth between the vineyards and the wineries, carrying their precious load.

We started the Harvest Experience Days for the 2011 vintage last weekend at Domaine Chapelle in the Côte de Beaune village of Santenay.

As with the other French wine growing regions, the grapes have ripened early this year.  At Domaine Chapelle the first bunches were harvested some three weeks earlier than last year!

After the quick introductions, it was straight of the Clos des Cornières vineyard, home to the adopted vines of the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience clients.  Jean François Chapelle lost no time in distributing our tools for the day, a pair of secateurs each, and a pile of crates to put the grapes into!

In teams of two, we spread out to take charge of a row of vines per couple, and the harvest began!  After removing some of the leaves from around the bunches, so as to better see the grapes, we used the secateurs to cut them and then we placed them in the crate.

In such a setting it's impossible to resist the temptation of tasting the grapes!  They are looking good this year, fairly large and oh so sweet!  We noticed a few damaged bunches, either some grapes that had shriveled up from the hot sun at the end of June, and some bunches where the first signs of rot have appeared, caused by the hot and wet weather that settled over Burgundy in the couple of weeks prior to the harvest starting.

Once we had filled each crate, we brought it back to the beginning of the vine row to be picked up later, and then took a new crate to harvest some more grapes.

Harvesting is a fairly physical job, especially in Burgundy where the vines are pruned close to the ground.  The aperitif was therefore very welcome!

Back at the winery, we started the wine tasting session with a Santenay "St Jean" 2009 white wine, followed by a Chassagne Montrachet Premier Cru "Morgeot" 2009.  As is the custom, the wines were accompanied by some gougères, a local specialty!

During the meal, we continued the tasting with some of the winery's red wines; a Santenay "Clos des Cornières" 2007, followed by an Aloxe Corton 2007 to compare two pinot noir wines of the same vintage but from different terroirs.  We ended with a Santenay Premier Cru "Beaurepaire" 2002.

After lunch, we met back up with our harvested grapes, which had since continued their journey to the reception hall.  Here the crates, brimming with grapes, are received and emptied onto the sorting table.  Side by side with the professional team, and once again equipped with a pair of secateurs, we separated the damaged or unripe grapes from the ones which are to be used to make our wine.

We saw the de-stemming machine at work which separates the grape berries from the stalks.  The stalks and rejected grapes are collected in a trailer to make compost.

The sorting table is located above the fermentation hall, and so the good grapes continue their journey down a slide where they are collected in a trolley before being taken to one of the fermentation tanks.  Each plot of vines is vinified separately.  Yannick Jacrot, the Technical Director, and Jean François Chapelle then explained the first stages of fermentation to us.

We then headed down the stone steps into the cellar to see where the wines will continue their fermentation and ageing in oak barrels.

All this made us thirsty again, so we had a final refreshment waiting for us; some grape juice from that day's harvest!

A big thank you to all those who shared the day with us, and especially to Jean François and his team for welcoming us so warmly during the busiest period of the winemaker's year!

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Winter is not yet officially upon us, but the Chablis valleys have already been whitened... 

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