Decuvage

As the reds reach the end of their fermentation period we have started decuvage, which is the process of draining the free run juice and then pressing the grapes to extract the tannic and colorful juice from the skins. The tannic press-juice adds extra structure to the final wine. Some winemakers will keep the press juice separate until the final blending takes place, others, like Alex Gambal, do a lighter press (gently pressing prevents too much extraction of the bitter tannins from the seeds and skins) and mix it back in with the free run juice. The wine will then go into barrel. 

Emptying out the grapes after the free-run juice has been pumped out of the tank

Shoveling out the grapes from inside the tank

Fruit being loaded into the press via conveyer belt (fondly referred to as Tutu the elephant)

Press-juice (freaky bright purple)

Pressed skins will be picked up and taken to a distillery

Weekend highlight: sunset segue into stargazing up in the Haut-Côte vineyards above Pernand-Vergelesses overlooking the hill of Corton with a campfire and Old Crow Medicine Show playing on the speakers. C'est pas mal. 

Still working on pumpovers and punchdowns, but pressing the reds will start this week. 

Punch-down

Pigéage

The other day I took a terrific bike ride up to Bouilland which is a tiny village 10K west of Savigny (30k round trip from Beaune). A beautiful ride up the valley, and a beautiful day for it. It's been a gorgeous September (which is exceptional for the harvest). Dismal weather is reported to kick-in this week..

Pigeage

As the reds begin fermentation we have been doing punch-downs and pigeage (either á pied or with what looks like an extra long toilet plunger) once or twice a day. As CO2 is produced while the yeasts are converting the sugars to alcohol, all of the skins are pushed to the top of the soaking juice, which is called the cap. It is necessary to break up the cap (yes, feet work best)so that the yeasts are exposed to ample oxygen so that they can continue doing what they do best. 

Remontage : pumping the juice over the cap to increase skin contact for better tannin/color/flavor extraction

The line-up for the daily tastings to track the progress of the juice as it begins to turn into wine

Paulée

Just finished processing the last batch of grapes (Chambolle-Musigny 1er Charmes)! Phew!

Last night we held our Paulée, the end of harvest dinner. After another beautiful feast prepared by Henry and Stacia, the gang went subterranean into John's cellar where we tackled a magnum of Jadot Beaune Ursules 2002 and a magnum of Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2007 by candlelight.

I spent all of yesterday afternoon with my fellow stagieres picking the remainder of Alex's parcel of Dents de Chien (yes, tooth of the dog) a premier cru in St. Aubin. This might be my favorite spot in the Cote d'Or. Located just uphill of Batard-Montrachet at Le Montrachet, this vineyard has a spectacular view to the East and the South. Mont Blanc is visible on a clear day. The wine doesn't suck either. 

The fruit from Chambolle village looked so good while we were sorting it yesterday that Alex and our winemaker, Geraldine, decided to put some aside to make an experiment cuvée with whole-bunch fermentation, with stems included and no sulphur. Due to such great ripening conditions this year, the stems are actually ripe enough that they will not impart mean green flavors, and are beneficial for imparting certain proteins and tannins that will contribute to the longevity of the wine. It will be fun to track the progress of this cuvée..

I've been too busy to blog but here's what I've been up to. In the past few days I have picked some chard in 1er cru Maltroie in Chassagne-Montrachet and some pinot noir in the Bourgogne designated vineyards in Pommard and Volnay. Yesterday I accompanied Alex up to Pernand-Vergelesses to pick up 3 barrels of juice he is getting from Rapet. We had lunch in Gevrey-Chambertin, and ran into Eric Rousseau (grandson of Armand) and his team who were coming in for a rowdy lunch after a morning of picking. Then we went to Clos de Vougeot to pick up our block of purchased grapes. The crusher-destemmer decided to take a hiatus from functioning before the final 4 bins could be processed, so we had to de-stem much of the remainder by hand a la methode ancienne (at least it was for a grand cru!).

It has been perfect weather for the past 2 weeks, and we've been getting some drizzle starting yesterday evening and into today. There are only 5 more blocks of fruit to get in so hopefully the weather will improve and we can finish processing the grapes in the next few days (our Paulée is planned for the end of the week). People here in Burgundy have been comparing this vintage to 2005, the most recent classic vintage, but with even better ripeness levels.

Pump-overs have started on the reds, as they undergo a 5 day cold soak maceration to extract color, flavor and tannins before fermentation begins. Juice from below the mass of grapes on the surface of the tank is pumped over the top of the "cap". The whites are nearly all in barrel now and fermentation is just about to kick-off.

Some recent blind tasting highlights:

Emilia Moro Ribera del Duero 1991

Pesquera Janus 1994

Pesquera 1989

(it's nice to get away from Burgundy every now and then)

Potel Chambertin 2004 - which didn't perform as well as it should have

Naudin-Ferrand Echezeaux 2001 - A pretty peculiar expression of Echezeaux, which is because this is the year before the producer improved vineyard management practices (lowered yields, better quality in 2002)

Some more pictures to come as soon as I get time/wifi access.

Pinot and Poulet

Things are currently in full swing here at Alex Gambal. The pinot noir started coming in yesterday from Savigny and Volnay (the latter being the result of a swap with Bouchard that Alex negociated). The days are long and tiring. So much of the process involves cleaning, then getting things all sticky again, then cleaning them, etc etc. I am at the point where I am washing and stacking the bins de vendage in my sleep. 

The sorting table. Very little triage needed since the fruit is in great shape this year.

Last night's dinner featured a Poulet Smackdown, a tasting of a Bresse chicken vs. regular. Bresse is an AOC for chickens, costing 5 times more than the regular grocery store chickens...so we had a blind tasting to decide if it really is that much better. There was a prize for whoever wrote the best tasting note: the black feet of the Bresse chicken. Guess who ended up with the creepy claws (close your eyes and put out your hands to recieve the award). Moi. 

Harvest Begins

Today we started to bring in some chardonnay from Puligny and Chassagne. This year's fruit is looking awesome so no sorting table, just a little triage as we throw it onto the conveyer into the press (pneumatic, for about 2 hrs). As I rode my bike to work early this morning it was just starting to get light out and I saw truck after truck loading up people to go out to pick. There is so much energy in the air here in Beaune as the harvest kicks off.

Pips and skins after pressing

Hauling out the skins - negociants have to weigh their skins so the government can be sure they aren't secretly making Marc and avoiding paying tax on it. One of the many Fr. gov. regulations.

Last night was the the first harvest dinner..Alex's friends Henry and Stasia are cooking for the vendage crew. They are excellent chefs! 

The blind bottles last night included: 2000 Amiot-Servelle Chambolle-Musigny magnum; 1996 Alex Gambal Volnay Robardelles magnum; 2000 Nicolas Potel Volnay Santenots. 

Last night's menu

The chefs at work