Picking is well under way in most parts of the region now and despite a gloomy start to the year, both in the meteorological sense and in people’s expectations for this year’s harvest, I am hearing some pretty positive comments from vignerons as they gather in the grapes.
Perhaps they are influenced by the lovely warm and sunny weather that we are still enjoying in Champagne, even though I am told that over the past couple of days it’s been raining in Paris, just 100 miles away from Champagne.
Something that’s a permanent feature of the harvest these days is the huge number of migrant workers - over 100,000 people - that descend on Champagne looking for work during this frantic period, and they are almost sure to find it. So much so that’s it not easy to find a French voice in the vines. This always throws me. I walk up to the pickers and ask politely in my best French if they mind me watching and filming and often they don’t understand a word I’m saying. Still, they get the gist of what I want and are happy to let me go ahead. I wonder if I’d get the same response if it were chucking it down with rain?
In the short video at the foot of this post you’ll see what was going on in Chouilly on 1st October in a plot that belongs to Mumm-Perrier Jouët
If you’re thinking that there are very few leaves on the vines, you’d be right. In fact just before the picking gets under way as many leaves as possible are blasted off the vines by compressed air. The machine that does this is an effeuilleuse (or de-leafer). It makes a big difference to the speed of the picking because particularly with the green Chardonnay grapes, it’s often very hard to see the bunches hidden behind thick clumps of foliage. Time is money when you’re picking and even more so when you are paying the pickers and conversely, time saved is money saved.
For a video of an effeuilleuse in action click here but be warned – it’s noisy!
Chouilly is not only a Grand Cru village but it is also one of the largest ‘cru’ in Champagne with some 500 hectares planted, almost exclusively with Chardonnay and about 200 vine growers. It sits right on the 49th parallel north and is home to Nicolas Feuillatte, the leading cooperative in Champagne.
Amongst the many excellent, smaller 'grower champagne' makers, Vazart Coquart, Michel Genet and Legras & Haas immediately spring to mind as being well worth your time to seek out and taste.
Chouilly was one of the villages affected by hail in July, so I’m sure that the ‘Geese’ as the local inhabitants are called, will be relieved at what looks like a very satisfactory harvest.
You’ll be able to see more videos and read more comments from the vignerons themselves as the grapes continue to come in over the next couple of weeks, so do come back soon
Jiles
I recently met a champagne maker called Samuel Roguet of Champagne Lucien Roguet and I was immediately impressed. Certainly by the champagnes, but more so by the man who seems to have a real sense of who he is and what he wants to achieve
It's Harvest time in Champagne and if you plan to be here in the next few weeks then one of the leading small champagne makers is offering you the chance to join in, have a lot of fun and take home some wonderful memories, not to mention tasting some superb champagnes.
For Bulletin 2 from the 2013 Champagne Harvest I went down to Oger, a Grand Cru village in la Côte des Blancs, to speak with Elodie Higonet of Champagne Chapuy which Elodie manages with her sister, Aurore.
Elodie mentions that this year’s bunches are not as heavy as she would like. Typically a good bunch would weigh about 125-130 grams, but so far this year they are still below 120 grams and picking is due to start in most areas within a very few days.
