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Old 10-05-2016, 12:02 PM   #159
Irish Rambler
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City: NARBONNE
Vessel Name: 'Snow Mouse.'
Vessel Model: BROOM FLYBRIDGE 42.
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,733
Since the upper reaches of the Rhine valley on our journey South to the Med it's been evident that Wine plays a significant part along our journey.
Both in the consumption in the Northern regions, to the production in warmer climes.
Harvesting, called (Le Vidange) has traditionally begun in France on the 15th of September but as the climate, geography and early, medium and late grape varieties vary it's not set in stone and is still in progress in early October for the later varieties of grape.
Villages and towns put up signs to alert you to 'grape juice on the road' and frenzied activity by the vintners as the farmers little tractors carry trailer loads of grapes to various co-ops.
99% of grapes are now harvested by machine, this of course demands the vines are well anchored and in arrow straight rows for ease of operation, the vines themselves are pruned to be receptive to the machine's method of harvesting the grapes.
The machine straddles a row of vines, as it drives along the row a large vertical brush on either side (a bit like a car wash) brush the grape bunches out from the vine stalk and a vertical cutting bar cuts and lifts the bunches and deposits them in a hopper.
Any stalks that are too low or too close to the vine trunk would be missed by the harvester and are cut off during pruning.
Many grape growers have no facilities to process the grapes and transport them to a local co-op and are paid by weight.
Others process the grapes and when their storage tanks are full of wine 2 special articulated trucks arrive with their own built in laboratory and bottling plant, often you see on a wine label 'Bottled on premises' or 'Bottled on Domain'
Each vineyard is called a 'Domain' and sports it own label. Co-ops usually sell wine from the region with a generic label.
The grapes bear little resemblance to the edible varieties you buy in the supermarket, as you can see the grapes themselves are much smaller individually and although juicy have very little flesh inside. The outside skin is tougher too and the seed inside is used to make very high quality oil for human consumption, salads, cooking etc.
The skin and grape stalks are taken away to a disposal site where they are left to decompose, they can't be used as fertilizer in case of passing any latent diseases.

Photo's.
1, Sample grape varieties showing size and colour.

2, New Holland/Braud grape harvester on it's way between vineyards.

Because vintners now have a new harvest arriving in their warehouses it means they need the space and must clear out any unsold pallets of bottles of last years wine. Supermarket buyers are not slow and offer 'we'll take the job lot' for a keen price ! even as you read this supermarkets in France are having 'Wine Fairs' and very good quality wines are sold off at bargain prices and our bilges are once more full of delicious wine.
The majority of wines are best drunk young, between 2 and 4 years, irrespective of what wine snobs will tell you.
ps. Don't panic, vines can live for up to a hundred years or more so we won't run out ! !
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