We have a small vineyard. In a good year it produces maybe 800-1000 litres of wine. In a bad year, perhaps 250-400. This is not a great issue as it is not commercial and only for our own use. So far I have failed to average a litre a day so there is always a surplus. Which is a handy local currency for returning favours etc.
This has been an awful year. But with an interesting consequence, which I will get to.
This is the raw material; one of our vines on harvest day.
These are some neighbours helping to bring it in. Some we give wine to; others are already wine growers and we reciprocate by helping them harvest in turn.
This is a tombereau, or at least that's how it sounds when they say it. It belongs to a neighbour and I get the loan of it on harvest day. Not only does it hold the grapes you chuck in, but it also has an archimedes screw at the bottom. That means you can pump and slurry the grapes at the same time, and straight into a large barrel called a tonneau, where the primary fermentation takes place.
This is the tonneau (1000 litres capacity), with my bro in law Donald helping after the previous harvest.
Now it happens that this convenience comes at a small price, in that you can't get the last few litres out - the screw won't push them up the pipe and into the tonneau without more stuff behind to help with the pushing as it were.
With the harvest being so poor this year (very late frost and some poor hungry beasts having a bloody good autumn munch) I decided not to use the tombereau.
How, my wife enquired, would we crush the grapes then?
The way our forebears used to, naturally. By treading on them. And I did. Stripped down to my undies, up a small ladder, into the tonneau, and started treading. I have to leave a plastic chair in there so I can get out again!
Now I know the question you are asking. Did I wash my feet? Come on, give me a break, of course I didn't. (They never did in the old days, did they?)
Well the good news is the primary fermentation is coming on just fine. Every two or three days I pop into the tonneau and do my treading. Funny, no one else seems inclined. At the end I emerge, slightly light headed, and with very purple feet.
This evening I sampled my first glass. Still a bit sweet, so more fermenting time needed, but it tastes delicious. Strange, though, I have a feeling that there may not be a stampede for this vintage.
Which is fine by me.
20 comments:
what a wonderful, wonderful thing to do!
eric newby would be proud of you.
get your wife to get a picture of you in your undies with purple feet!? bet the vino is delicious. wish i could taste some...x janelle
I thought all the best wine was wonderful simply because of all the unwashed feet!
Good on you for honouring the "old ways"! ;-)
laurie - sorry to say I had never heard of Newby. Do now - sounds a fascinating chap.
janelle - never and no way is a photo of me in my undies and with purple feet going to find its way onto the internet. It just wouldn't be kind (and I don't mean to me!)
av - I suspect you are right. After all, lots of interesting yeast cells on unwashed feet.
Don't worry about any surplus - as a charitable act I'll come down and deal with it if you so wish.
I've always wanted to press grapes in my bare feet. And I've always fancied the idea of having my own vintage: Chateaudumdad-du-pape springs to mind.
What a wonderful sensory experience - I bet it is lovely and squishy....
Best to not forget the plastic chair though.I think being stuck in (essentially) a big bottle of wine would quickly loose its appeal!
Fantastic, I hate all these stainless steel mega vats with their sulphur additives. I did this once in a barrell press during Australia Day celebrations, it feels great, the wine works and I think the stuff between your toes helps the fermentation process. Plus it's great exercise!
dumdad - you know I do worry about the surplus, so thanks for your kind suggestion. I'll keep you posted.
mud - it certainly is sensory. The stalks are a bit scratchy; we leave them in since this is a red wine and it's good for the tannin. But also cold. The late summer was quite chilly, and if it wasn't for the purple stain, I'm sure my feet would be blue.
baino - you are right on all counts. Sulphur is a no no for me. I believe that that's where the headaches come from rather than excessive consumption. That's my story anyway.
I am first in the queue, unwashed feet or not.
I am always surprised by the quantity of wine produced from an acreage. When I lived in Paris, my colleague, a German of some wealth, owned a beautiful farmhouse in Tuscany with a small vineyard, around an acre and a half, maybe larger, which produced 8000 magnums a year. Could this be true? Perhaps my memory is failing, but it was a surprising quantity.
We, in contrast, have had the BEST year ever for grape production - 5 bunches on our vine here in Wolverhampton.
dot - you will be most welcome to slip some of the velvet down your throat. On volume, we have 1/2 hectare under vines; that's just over 1 acre. As far as I know it has never produced more than 1200 litres ...
jollygood - I'm impressed; I shall be moving our operation over shortly.
awwwwwwwww..go on! x
never never never never never
oooh i'm so envious, you get to play in the stuff and then drink it too! by all the comments it sounds like the people here in the virtual blog zone are not so fussy ...
You know you're right mei del. I think I could set up a thriving online business here. Oh, and did I say it's organic too?
What a wonderful life you lead! It all sounds so picturesque! Sticking with traditional methods -that's what I like to see.. I bet the French think you're mad...
claire, you're right. Sometimes I take it for granted, but not for long!
Oh well - at least we should be grateful that you kept your underpants on. I think it is always so disagreeable when one finds a pubic hair in one's wine glass.....
bob
Now Bob, I think you're saying too much there!
glorious! save us a bottle (ok poor harvest, half a bottle will be good)
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