Salles d'Aude Vendange 2012

Vendange today and as it was over 100 years ago.

Here at Real South Apartments we offer holiday gites, self catering gite holiday apartments in the village of Salles d Aude (Region Parc Naturel Narbonnaise) arks the question, "How times have changed" the vendange today and as it was over 100 years ago it would be hard for our predecessors to envisage the vendange of today.

The vendange is one of the most crucial steps in the process of wine making. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to produce. The weather can also shape the timetable of harvesting with the threat of heat, rain, hail, and frost which can damage the grapes and bring about various vine diseases. In addition to determining the time of the harvest, winemakers and vineyard owners must also determine whether to utilize hand pickers or mechanical harvesters. The harvest season typically falls between August & October.

The question of using mechanical harvesting versus traditional hand picking is a source of contention in the wine industry. Mechanical harvesting of grapes has been one of the major changes in many vineyards in the last third of a century. First introduced commercially in the 1960s, it has been adopted in different wine regions for various economic, labour and wine making reason. A mechanical vine harvester works by beating the vine with rubber sticks to get the vine to drop its fruit onto a conveyor belt that brings the fruit to a holding bin. As technology improves mechanical harvesters have become more sophisticated in distinguishing grape clusters from mud, leaves and other particles.

Despite the improvement many harvesters still have difficulties in distinguishing between ripe, healthy grapes and unripe or rotted bunches which must then be sorted out at the winemaking facility. Another disadvantage is the potential of damaging the grape skins which can cause maceration and colouring of the juice that is undesirable in the production of white and sparkling wine. The broken skins also bring the risk of oxidation and a loss of some of the aromatic qualities in the wine.

One of the benefits of mechanical harvesting is the relatively low cost. A harvester is able to run 24 hours a day and pick 80-200 tons of grapes, compared to the 1-2 tons that an experienced human picker could harvest. In hot climates, where picking quickly or in the cool of night is a priority, mechanical harvesting can accomplish these goals very well.

Despite the costs, some wineries prefer the use of human workers to hand-pick grapes. The main advantage is the knowledge and discernment of the worker to pick only healthy bunches and the gentler handling of the grapes. The production of some dessert wine like Sauternes require that individual berries are picked from the botrytized bunches which can only be done by hand. In areas of steep terrain, like in the Mosel, it would be virtually impossible to run a mechanical harvester through the vineyard. In many wine regions, migrant workers are a sizeable composition of the harvest time work force as well as local student and itinerant workers.

Come and see the vendange for yourselves and stay with use here at Real South Apartments luxury holiday self-catering gite apartments in the heart of a living wine growers village.

!!! See you soon !!!.