September 2015 – Missinwine

By - Caroline
Posted on September 22, 2015March 2, 2016
Posted in biodynamic, bioenergy, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest – the bioenergetic cuvée Liberance en primeur at Franck Pascal

My last visit this harvest season was at Franck and Isabelle Pascalle in Baslieux-sous-Chatillon. I arrived at the same time as the last grapes for the day. Franck and Isabelle have been farming biodynamically since 2002 and for the last 5 years they have taken things another step forward by applying bioenergy in the winery

By - Caroline
Posted on September 20, 2015September 23, 2015
Posted in Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne Harvest 2015 – tasting Meunier on the vines and straight out of the press at Champagne Loriot

I love visiting the Loriots in harvest, I love eating their delicious Meunier grapes whilst listening to all the banter, laughing! This year I took Jess, a friend from New York whom I had spend a day with working selling wine more than 7 years ago; almost another lifetime if you want. But Facebook has

By - Caroline
Posted on September 19, 2015September 22, 2015
Posted in Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest 2015 – the end of harvest at Champagne de Sousa and Champagne Moussé

On Thursday I visited Champagne de Sousa, getting ready for the end of harvest. I had wanted to visit a few times before but somehow always something came up preventing me. Charlotte told me they started harvest on the 8th of September and they are expected to finish today. The de Sousa family have 10

By - Caroline
Posted on September 19, 2015September 19, 2015
Posted in Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest 2015 – choucroute at the Boulards to lift the mood on this rainy last day of harvest.

In between class preparations I managed to visit the Boulards on this wet Wednesday. It rained cats and dogs when Delphine Richard took me out to the winery to talk about this years harvest. It was her first of being totally in charge now that Francis Boulard retired in July. Delphine started harvest on the

By - Caroline
Posted on September 19, 2015September 19, 2015
Posted in biodynamic, Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest 2015 – a day in the vineyard and winery with the Lahaye family

On Wednesday I spent the day with the Lahaye family. After lunch Benoit first took me to the Argentière vineyard where we checked on the ripeness, before joining his pickers in the youngest part of the Jardin de la Grosse Pierre. For the last 10 years, Benoit has employed a Turkish family paid by the

By - Caroline
Posted on September 19, 2015
Posted in Champagne

Champagne harvest 2015 – social gatherings at the Pressoir Rodez

Harvest is a festive time in Champagne, and many people from young to old like to sample the atmosphere. Especially the traditional presses speak to the imagination. This is why Eric and Mica Rodez often welcome visitors in their press center. When I visited on Monday afternoon, there was a group of students from Chalons-en-Champagne

By - Caroline
Posted on September 16, 2015
Posted in Champagne

Champagne Harvest 2015 – Portrait of a harvester: Renaud Hans

Renaud Hans has been working harvest at david Léclapart for the last 5 years. He started of as picker, but has been a débardeur – emptying buckets and moving cases in and out of the rows – for the last 2 years. Before working for David he had already 5 harvests under his belt in

By - Caroline
Posted on September 16, 2015September 16, 2015
Posted in Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest 2015 – a morning in the vines with David Léclapart

On Monday morning I spent a few hours with David Léclapart in his Cote des Prés vineyard. He was one of the 3 débardeurs for his pickers, emptying buckets of grapes and bringing the full cases to the end of the row for pick up. He really enjoyed being out in the vineyard and participating

By - Caroline
Posted on September 15, 2015
Posted in Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest 2015 – portrait of a harvester: Jacques Bony and Alexandre Budan

Last week I interviewed two different harvesters at Champagne Tarlant. Jacques Bony, a traveller, has been working harvest for the Tarlant family for at least 20 years. “I first came when I was still very young, and ever since we have come back year in year out”, Jacques explains. When asked what he likes the

By - Caroline
Posted on September 15, 2015September 16, 2015
Posted in Caroline's Champagne, Champagne, Champagne harvest 2015

Champagne harvest 2015 – organic and biodynamic grape syncronicities at Aurélien Lurquin, Emilien Feneuil and Leclerc Briant

This weekend it seemed my visits were very interlinked in more ways than one. Synchronicities had started to happen in a big way already on Friday, when I bumped into Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon and later saw my beloved pick grapes in the biodynamic Chèvres vineyard in Cumières. Later in the evening when I stopped off at

Month: September 2015