Harvest went well last night as I flicked from winery to winery to keep an eye on things.

I'm back in Beziers first thing this morning where New Zealand winemaker James, shows me straight to the vat holding the freshly pressed Vermentino juice. The immediate cooling has worked like a dream and the sediment has fallen quickly to the bottom of the vat leaving crystal clear juice above.

The transport tanker arrives promptly at 8am. The first thing to do is check the tanker is clean and then drop a scoop of CO2 dry ice to protect the fragile juice from oxidation (when juice turns brown – think of a cut apple after 15 minutes) whilst filling.

The CO2 works because it is heavier than air, so lies on the surface of the juice as the tanker is filling, forming a protective blanket against contact with oxygen. Next job is pumping the wine from the racking tap (the 2nd higher tap on the vat) in order to take the clear juice and not the settled sediment into the tanker.

Once the first compartment on the tanker is full to the brim and a sample is taken, the lids are sealed tight and the lorry is ready to depart for the 2 hour journey westwards to Limoux, to pick up the La Voute Chardonnay juice.

I have a quick stop at Selleles sur l'Aude to check the unloading and bottling of the XV President. Tankers are arriving, unloading, filling, leaving, it’s mayhem and I am up to my eye balls in tankers!

I manage, however, to beat the other tanker carrying the Vermentino to Limoux and taste the Chardonnay juice with Guilhiem Marty (winemaker). I am very, very pleased and I know already that the 2009 La Voute is going to be a stunner! The juice is loaded into the tanker under the same conditions as the Vermetino and as soon as the tanker is full, lids are shut tight. Once the small task of filling in all of the of French paper work has been completed, the tanker can finally make its way to the Chai.

I now head for Carcassonne to re-check the CY Chardonnay and VC Viognier vineyards with Antonio. The grape maturity is a little bit behind the other areas due to a much cooler air flow and more acidic soils but now I taste it is ready.

I decide to harvest the Chardonnay tonight and the Viognier early tomorrow morning. Another long night but after I am happy with the juice. I will leave early to meet Jean-Marc in Bordeaux to look at Sauvignon Blanc vineyards and then to help the guys unload the Vermentino and Chardonnay from the tanker into the Chai.


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The GG 2009 ferment is underway, sitting at a nice 13 degrees centigrade.

The grey juice of last week with careful handling has transformed into a vibrant sparkling orange (looks rather like fanta!). I checked the density (the amount of sugar) to see if it has dropped, which means the special yeast has started to convert a tiny amount of sugar into alcohol. I leave the evening check to Chris and John but I insist they call me tonight with the progress otherwise I won't sleep!

News comes at 10 a.m. from Mont Blanc, north of Beziers, to tell me that the Vermentino is looking close to harvest – so I pack my bag asap and shoot down to the Midi immediately.

I make a quick stop in Limoux on the way to check the vineyards and after a good berry tasting, I am sure it is the right moment and give the orders to harvest tonight. Onto Beziers and amazingly the Vermentino is perfect too. Gonna be a long night! But most importantly, it means I can transport both juices in the double tanker lorry tomorrow.

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Vineyard Sampling

This morning, we need to take and taste berry samples from each vineyard, in order to assess and monitor the ripening progress of the grapes.

I met up early at Chateau La Clarière with Olivier (vineyard manager), Henry Laithwaite and John Lakey for a tour of all our vineyards. Over the next 2-3 weeks, we will take frequent berry samples and keep a close eye on the maturity of the grapes to help decide when to begin the harvest.

All the vineyards are different so it is important to take a representative sample of the individual vineyard plots. In order to do this, we begin by taking berries 3 rows and 5 vines into the vineyard, as the end rows are usually riper due to more sunlight. The bunches are also irregular from the top to the bottom, so we take a grape from the shoulder, two berries from the middle and finally a berry from the bottom.

We then walk up and down the rows taking 4 berries to the left then four berries to the right, every 10 metres. There are 15 plots in total and the whole tour takes around 3 hours, so it keeps the winemakers fit and out of mischief!

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