An English Oenologist - Custom Crush

We had the pleasure of catching up with some of our old contacts in the UK wine trade last week and spent an afternoon with Emma Rice at her new lab in Sussex. We met Emma while studying viticuluture and oenology together at Plumpton College. She, like me, was one of the few people on the course to have an exisiting wine trade background and the WSET Diploma. Since graduating, we have all taken different paths but Emma decided to set herself up as a consultant oenologist having spent a year in California.

Emma taking samples to test for malolactic fermentation

The English wine industry has taken off considerably during the past 20 years having previously been the subject of scorn by many who consider England a joke when it comes to wine. But, the emergence of some really good sparkling wines made by producers such as Nyetimber, Ridgeview, Camel Valley and Breaky Bottom as well as increasingly interesting still wines has made people have a rethink and we have seen a lot of new producers entering the fray as well as investment coming from elsewhere. This is where Emma comes in.

Setting up the equipment to test for Sulphur

Most producers in France manage their vineyards and wineries themselves but they often look for outside assistance when it comes to analysing their wines. This is because winemakers are not always chemists and the equipment required to run standard tests is expensive and requires skill to operate. They may do rudimentary tests to check the levels of sugar during fermentation and use a simple kit to test for sulphur but where real accuracy is involved, an outside lab is routinely used. Samples are dropped off or collected, the tests run and the results delivered back to the producer.

There are few people in England who offer this kind of service and Emma saw an opportunity. She works closely with a number of small producers giving advice during winemaking, collecting and analysing samples for them and being on hand to offer assistance when needed.

Testing for Sulphur by the aspiration method

While we were there she was testing free and bound sulphur levels and checking if malolactic ferments had started.

The sample of wine goes here and air is bubbled through

This is the indicator - if there is Sulphur in the wine it will turn purple and Emma will then use titration to measure the level accurately

Having been stronger in the arts and not the sciences at school (a long time ago), I admit to feeling near terror at the thought of having to return to chemistry in 20003. After a few preliminary headaches I became really interested in the subject and surprised myself. I'm sure this is related to the fact that winemaking is all about chemistry and understanding it explains so much. Of course, you don't need to be a chemist to make good wine.

So thanks to Emma for an interesting an informative afternoon - we're looking forward to hearing more good things about the English wine industry with her help.

Emma Rice
Custom Crush
emma.rice@customcrush.co.uk
Tel: 00 44 7530 999 592

The politics of picking

Feeling good today as we finished the harvest at Chateau de Pimpéan after what has been a hard but enjoyable week. This has been my first full harvest since we moved to France (Nigel's 2nd) and it has been good to participate on equal terms with other members of the team rather than just dipping in for the odd half day here and there.

The beginning of the day is always hard - it takes a while to warm up and get your eye in on the bunches, cutting quickly and moving on swiftly. Two members of the team tackle a row each, one on either side. You notice that some people work together better than others - chances are they have harvested together before, second guessing each other's moves well in advance. Cuts and grazes are fairly common for the first couple of days.

So this is where the competitive edge starts to kick in. As we move down the rows in teams of two, glances are cast to check who is going the fastest and who is lagging behind. It's irritating when you come in last and feels great when you finish first. And then we have the issue of emptying the buckets. Cries of 'seau' come thick and fast - just as you've got down on your knees again to collect some bunches hanging near the ground, the guy carrying the hod is after you again!

But any pressure you feel comes from yourself. In reality, the team works well together. Those that finish first come back and help those coming in behind. That way, everyone starts a new row at the same time. Sometimes you're first and sometimes you're last - it depends upon the time of day, how you're feeling and if your knees and back are bearing up to the strain well that day.

And what a great feeling at the end of each day to come away knowing that you've participated in one of the most important periods of the vineyard year. That cup of English tea has never tasted so good nor has the glass of two of wine in the evening after a long hot soak in the bath.

Tomorrow is our post-harvest party. Maryse will be lighting the old bread oven at Chateau de Pimpéan and we will be celebrating with a glass or two and some fouaces. We thought we'd take along a couple of bottles of Breaky Bottom from England to start off the evening. Will let you know how we get on.

Hand harvesting for Chateau de Pimpéan

On the face of it, joining in with a little hand harvesting seems like an easy option. Reality is of course somewhat different - it's hard physical graft and requires stamina and fitness. An hour or two is manageable but 7 hours a day for a week and one quickly realises that it's extremely tough. 2 people share the responsibliity for each row moving with real speed, darting in and out of the foliage, cutting the (thankfully very healthy) grapes off and leaving any unripe 'grappions' behind. Every 5 minutes or so, the chap responsible for the 'hod' arrives in order to chivvy you along and empty your bucket before returning to the row. This inevitably leads to an enormous amount of bending up and down, lifting and emptying, crouching over and then returning to all fours in order to make sure nothing gets left behind. When someone misses a good bunch, others are quick to point it out with cries of 'une bouteille ici'. Having had the weekend off, we return tomorrow to continue harvesting for Chateau de Pimpean. Despite having sore legs and arms, numerous cuts and scratches - we feel rested and ready to go again. There is a great sense of teamwork and satisfaction when the tractor drives off with a full trailer of healthy Cabernet Franc grapes. For us, it gives the opportunity to stay in touch with the reality of growing grapes and making wine at ground level. There's an awful lot of hard work going on in the vineyard during the year culminating with vintage. Then, we wait and look forward in anticipation to this year's wines - they should be good...

Harvest in Bourgueil with Pierre-Jacques Druet

Some pictures taken at the end of last week when we visited Pierre-Jacques Druet. Despite being inundated with trailors of grapes arriving, he still found plenty of time to give us an excellent tasting and explain the process of winemaking to our clients from San Francisco.

Cabernet Franc grapes arriving at the winery

Pump is primed ready to take the free-run juice straight to a settling tank for the rosé

An amazing amount of free-run juice comes straight from the trailor

Pierre-Jacques checks the juice with his refractometer - good news - 12.5

The harvesters still find time to select a few wild mushrooms for dinner, carefully stored in a trug balanced on the front of the trailer

Once the free-run juice has stopped flowing, grapes are manually pulled into the crusher destemmer giving the 'must' which is then pumped directly into tank

Care is taken in the winery to ensure everything goes smoothly

Tank full and ready for fermentation to start

Harvest in Savennières - Domaine aux Moines

Photos from Domaine aux Moines in Savennières yesterday. We arrived to find pickers selecting grapes for the 1er tri. Weather conditions have been perfect in recent weeks although potential alcohol is escalating which has meant picking must get underway. There is very little noble rot present this year as the weather has been extremely dry. What little there is will increase if current conditions prevail with foggy mornings and sunny dry afternoons.

The tractor reverses down the row to allow pickers to empty their small picking buckets.

The Chenin Blanc grapes are in excellent condition with Mme Laroche describing this year's harvest as 'très sain'

Pickers gather at the end of the rows to discuss the next parcel

Healthy Chenin grapes - these will be left a little longer but the shrivelling due to lack of water can be easily seen and some bunches contain severely dehydrated grapes that already have a potential alcohol of around 20

The tractor bringing in the 1er tri

Mme Laroche guiding us through a tasting of Domaine aux Moines

Tasting a range of vintages of Domaine aux Moines Savennières, Mme Laroche discussed the different growing conditions for each wine and this was borne out in the diversity of style and flavours that we found. From the more primary fruit, tight young wine of 2006 to the evolved complexity of the 1992, full of honey, grapefruit and minerals - these wines change so much over time.

Saumur Champigny vintage update

Lovely view from vineyards close to Saumur showing the river Loire and the chateau in the distance


Just returned from a morning in and around Saumur and Saumur Champigny. The weather continues to be perfect this week giving growers the opportunity to take their time and hold off harvest until they think fit. We drove around many of the Saumur Champigny communes - not a single person spotted in the vineyards. The Cabernet Franc grapes look in spectacular form - clean and healthy with no rot.

Healthy grapes from the village of Chaintres in the Saumur Champigny appellation

We spoke to Domaine de Hureau - they are starting tomorrow as is Chateau de Villeneuve - they will be passing through for the 1er tri, the reds to follow next week. At Filliatreau there was lots of activity cleaning tanks and machinery in anticipation for a 5th October minimum start.

Preparing for harvest at Domaine Filliatreau in Chaintres

Will keep you posted as and when harvest starts - we will be there on Saturday.

Vintage update - Vouvray & Chinon

Was over in Vouvray this morning collecting wine from Bernard Fouquet. His press is at the ready with equipment clean and ready for harvest which will begin on Monday. He says that the vines have suffered from a lack of water and this lead to a 'blockage' of maturity. Yields are anticipated to be normal/healthy but the grapes will yield a small amount of juice as they are quite hard. The grapes have seen the onset of noble rot so he is hoping conditions remain dry as any rain could lead to grey rot setting in. At present there is a tiny amount of grey rot but nothing to be concerned about. Harvest on Monday will be for the petillants - acidity is not high but he says there is always a difference between those levels recorded during random sampling and those achieved on the day. Conditions are excellent.

We drove around the vineyards perched above the village of Vouvray. Many vineyards have grapes in great condition and others appear to have a lot of mildew and grey rot. This seems to be mainly where the canopy has been left dense. Photos are not of Bernard's vineyards - we took random shots.


Grapes in this vineyard looking extremely unhealthy, stripped the leaves away to take the photo


On the other hand, these look in good health, clean and without rot, clearly leaf stripped.


Moving on to Chinon, we had a chat with Jérome Billard at Domaine de la Noblaie. He will be waiting for at least another week before harvesting his Chenin for the whites. Potential alcohol is around 12 on average and he is delighted at the current weather conditions which are 'perfect'. Sunny days with a little wind allow the vines to perform normally and without any stress. There is a little grey rot but only a tiny amount and a little noble rot setting in which he feels will add complexity to the whites. He is going to hold off as long as possible if the weather conditions prevail.

I'll post more photos on the Facebook fanpage tomorrow.