Today, we sounded the horns at Eugenie as we finished the harvest by picking some select rows of Clos de Vougeot that we had left for an experimental cuvee. The whole team went out to pick, including Michel, and we finished collecting the grapes in half an hour. For this special cuvee, we did not sort the grapes at all, but merely place them carefully into cases to be transported back to the chai, in whole bunches.
|
When we returned the Domaine had been turned into a production line where each picker would sit and cut the bunches “baie par baie” (berry by berry), selecting only the berries that are pristine. Each berry would be cut individually and the stalks left behind. Because the grapes are only treated by hand and never dropped, pumped, or run through a machine, the skins all remain perfectly intact. This painstakingly slow and precise process will hopefully yield the best wine possible from the Clos. The quantity will be tiny, and it isn’t certain whether this extra step will yet yield a new wine for the market, or merely elevate the already brilliant Clos de Vougeot to another level. If it is a success, there is also a slight possibility this could be converted to the entire production of Grands Echezeaux. However, it will take a team of more than 50 to take that on, as even with 35 people today the timing was tight to finish in time. One bunch of grapes can take up to 5 minutes to cut and sort.
|
When compared to the grapes put into mass-produced wine, where no human hand touches the produce from harvest to bottle, it really shows the craftsmanship and precision that goes into some fine wine. Certainly, by the end of the day having spent nearly 8 hours cutting out individual berries before analysing, pumping over, and chilling the other musts in the chai, I had a sore back and a tired mind. The product, though, looks absolutely stunning. Thousands of individual berries all of perfect ripeness and with unblemished exteriors. They certainly look ready to make a wine of the highest quality. We discussed the great potential with another blind tasting, this time of a wine that I immediately recognised, at it is in the Farr Vintners cellar already – Vosne Romanee Les Brulees 2007. Spicy, toasty, showing more development than other wines during the week, but with ripe fruit and good structure despite some lovely mature, earthy notes.
|
With the harvest now over, tomorrow I can look forward to (as well as a slight lie-in until 7am) a morning spent checking on the wines at the Domaine. After that, the festivities begin with “La Paulée”, a party for all the pickers and workers at the Domaine, a celebration of what will this year surely be a very good to great vintage for Eugenie. Time to get some rest, as I’m told some older magnums usually surface during the day, and I wouldn’t want to miss out!
