Posts200 grapes picked blind
August 25th, 2007 by Helen
So Sevarine and her colleague, who looked like a birdwatcher, both suitably clothed and sporting wellingtons arrived at 8.30 am to collect samples of our grapes. They showed us how it was to be done as, during the next week, we have to take two more lots of samples and deliver to the co-operative for analysis.
The grapes must be taken from the same patches of vines each time and 200 berries must be picked at random, hence the blindfold! 
Placed in a plastic bag and sealed. The juice will be extracted and tested for acidity, sugar content and Ph.
A telephone call this afternoon confirmed that our grapes had reached enough maturity to be picked, the sugar content must be at least ten and ours were exactly ten. The date remains fixed for the 3rd September for the team to start picking, if the sugar level increases in the next few days it will not be a problem.
Today was one of those fully charged days; unexpected visitors, our friends who manage the Chateau de la Terriere who make a fine Brouilly, we invited them to stay for lunch. They brought us a bottle of their 2001 which although had the duller colour that age brings tasted delicious with our melon and smoked duck and quiche accompanied by a beetroot, carrot and tomato salad, from the vegetable patch. The cheese was served with our 2006 Regnie and was much appreciated by our guests. We ate in the garden in perfect warm sunshine and exchanged new ideas about how we could promote Beaujolais! Fred has an excellent plan which you will hear more about in later posts.
Pascal visited this afternoon and we delightedly accepted his offer of help to prepare the cuves for the forthcoming bottling next thursday, the bottles and corks, all eight thousand of them were delivered this morning, Fred moved the seven huge pallettes of bottles into the cuvage with the forklift truck so they would be out of the sun. Because we are mixing half the wine from each of two cuves the left over wine needs to be transferred to a newly cleaned and prepared one ready for another bottling another time.
We have to decide from which vines we choose to take the grapes for the co-operative and let Sevarine know by monday. We also have been doing a little research, contacting some regular customers in the UK, as to whether we make some Rose Beaujolais, or sparkling rose or some sparkling red Regnie which seems to have become quite popular in France.
What do you think?
Helen, I think that the idea of Rose Beaujolais is very appealing. The sparkling suggestions are also very tempting.
The Regnie that we have been drinking lives up to that comment:
Regnie a Fine French Beaujolais!
Well Helen I hope that you were in the correct place when you were picking the grapes blindfolded! I had a look at your vines yesterday and they look really well. Elsewhere in regnié they have already started the harvets and there are lots of keen young vendangeois anmd vendangesoises working hard to start the process of this year’s vintage. As ever le triage will be important and I know that you have already made preparations to select only the finest grapes to make your wine. I gave a case of your 2006 to my friend Sean and he rang to say it was really good. He had visitors in his chambre d’hote and they were impressed. Bonne récolte!