Dan's Harvest Updates

No pressure!

Thu 25 Mar 2010

I often wondered what it was like to be one of those Burgundian winemakers. After years, maybe generations, of bargaining and scheming, they finally get their hands on a few rows of premium Pinot Noir or Chardonnay in one of the hyper-expensive grand cru sections of the golden slopes - this to add to their collection of parcels from lesser vineyards of the region. The hallowed fruit from these few hundred vines will produce their top wine, worth hundreds, maybe thousands of Euros a bottle. Sometimes there is only enough to make a single barrel, sometimes not even that. I have heard stories of winemakers topping the barrels with glass marbles because they have nothing else worthy enough to do the job. Can you imagine the pressure to get it right? Not a drop must be wasted and nothing must be forgotten or overdone - the reputation of the family firm is at stake! It makes me shiver just to think about it.

I've got the shivers now, not because I'm cold, but because I have just heard that it is going to take a third day for the team to pick the Front Block of Durif. Three days! The rains we have had have not been kind to our Durif. As explained in earlier posts it splits in wet weather and is prone to rot. We have decided to do a selective hand pick and then hand sort the fruit a second time. A marquee has been set up at the end of the rows where the buckets are brought and the bunches tipped onto the shaded table. There, a second set of workers sorts through the bunches, discarding any that have botrytis, cutting out dodgy parts of others and peering into each tight bunch to see if there is anything nasty hidden amongst the tightly-packed berries. At least half the fruit is being discarded. What remains is perfectly ripe, in perfect condition and very, very expensive!

We also have a reputation to uphold. Our Family Cellar Durif is one of the best in the region (modesty forbids my placing it any higher) and our status as a premium producer of table wines is in no small part due to the quality of this wine. Not that anyone else is putting me under pressure, but if this wine doesn't win the Best Durif trophy in a couple of year's time, I'm going to have some explaining to do!

See Also: Ask Dan