Champagne Harvest 2015 – a morning with Michel Drappier

 

The sunrise was glorious early this morning en route for Urville, where I arrived just about at the same time as the first grapes of the day. 

Harvest started with a handful of pickers over the weekend but really got into full swing yesterday. “Last week Monday I panicked, it was 34 degrees, the berries were shrinking  and I realized we had to bring the harvest forward. We thus decided on Friday as the start date. However, it rained the whole of Tuesday, and then the weather became significantly cooler. Thursday’s samples had slightly less potential alcohol that the ones we took earlier in the week, so we finally decided to start on Monday”, explains Michel. However a small team of about 10 pickers picked the young vine Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir this weekend, as the grapes were very ripe. The Pinot Gris came in at 13% potential alcohol, the highest alcohol potential that Michel or even his father André ever saw coming in. 

 

 This morning  the teams were picking Pinot Noir in Cornellier, and the grapes were sweet and healthy. Part of this plot also has the Petit Meslier and Arbanne grapes used in the cuvée Quatuor, but these will not be picked till next week. 

 

Drappier have 35 own employees in the vines as well as a team of Polish pickers which has been coming for the last 28 years. Everybody is paid by the hour. Michel elaborates: “I feel it is important to take the time to pick well. When we pay by the hour people tend to pay more attention which is better for the quality.”

Michel keeps a close eye on what is happening at the press, and decided on where the wines go once they have settled. Drappier have 4 8000 kg Coquard à met incliné presses, of which one is exclusively for their organic vineyard. This year Michel invested in small tanks for micro vinification per pressing. “It allows us to be a lot more precise”, says Michel.

All in all Michel is very happy this year, the grapes are ripe – even if there are some differences in degree – and very healthy. “If we can continue like this we really will have a wonderful harvest”, concludes Michel.