Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008

The Harvest
2008
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Thursday 25 September 2008
Day One
The first grapes
We are back once again, dear readers, for the 2008 harvest. The vintage will no doubt present some
challenges given the cold and damp conditions over the past few months, but there are nonetheless some
excellent grapes in most plots. We will be following every step of this new adventure, which has begun
with a calm and serene atmosphere of determination, under clear skies that fuel the enthusiasm for the
task ahead.
We have been watching the sky and the thermometer for months, anxious to know if Mother Nature
would decide to give us the sun and the northerly wind so that our precious grapes reach optimum
maturity. Our wishes were granted: September “saved” the harvest!
The daily ripeness tests carried out by winemaker Pierre Vincent led him to decide on a start date for
harvesting at the Domaine of Thursday 25 September, simultaneously on both côtes. As we well know,
every year’s vintage has its own characteristics, which is the whole magic of wine. The particularity of
2008? Harvesting plot by plot according to the conditions of the vine. The cold has made the pinot noir
and chardonnay ripen slowly, and so the two cépages are reaching maturity at the same time, which is
unusual here. The vines for harvesting will therefore be selected on a day-by-day basis. “As soon as its
ripe, we bring it in!” says Pierre.
On the Côte de Beaune, we are starting with our great vines of Savigny-lès-Beaune premier cru “Les
Marconnets.” This two-hectare plot was severely affected by hail at the end of July. Given the irregular
development of the grapes, Pierre has this year decided to vinify separately those from the higher part of
the plot, where the berries are in good shape with some millerandage, and those from the wetter lower part,
which will “declassified” into Bourgogne. That is the price of being intransigent when it comes to quality.
On the Côte de Nuits, the first snips of the secateurs from the team of 20 pickers took place in the
Bourgogne plot “Les Crotots,” in the commune of Vougeot. This is the moment to harvest this vine,
which has reached the peak of its physiological development. The grapes are in nice condition, and will
make an excellent cuvée of Bourgogne.
In the winery, sorting this year is crucial, to the point where 14 people are employed on this task with a
relay system at lunchtime so the grapes are never left without surveillance!
We’ll be back again tomorrow with the next installment.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Friday 26 September 2008
Day Two
The great plots
The Clos Blanc de Vougeot was glowing on this “fruit” day in the lunar calendar, ideal for harvesting. A
premier cru, it sits opposite the Cistercian château of Clos Vougeot where the monks first began making
wine for the eucharist as far back as the 12th century. Since then, the vine has kept all of its original
integrity, never having been divided up or shared. This has earned this two-hectare triangle of great whites
among great reds its “monopole” title. It is the only vine that has traversed the centuries in this way and as
such, offers an esoteric wine unlike no other – “mythical and mystical”, as we like to call it.
Harvesting the Clos Blanc de Vougeot is always done in several stages because the grapes’ maturity differs
according to the age of the vines. Today, we brought in golden grapes from the youngest vines planted in
2000. This plot is called La Plante, and the grapes had reached perfect ripeness. We harvested a press
worth, or enough to fill six pièces, the traditional Burgundy oak barrels of 228 liters, and the juice weighed
in nicely at 12.1°. Thierry Jeannin, our faithful head of cultivation over on the Côte de Nuits walked the
rows, checking, explaining and instructing old and new members of the small 20-strong harvesting team
with patience and vigilance.
Still in Vougeot, where our ten hectares inspired the estate’s “de la Vougeraie” name, we then turned to
the En Bollery vines below Clos Vougeot and those for the oddly-named La Vigne d’en Face cuvée,
another large plot that is one third planted with Gamay. This time it was the turn of the Pinot Noir which
were well ripened despite the damp location.
On the Côte de Beaune, we finished up the Les Marconnets vines. As mentioned yesterday, the hail has
done a lot of damage and 30% of the grapes was discarded. Higher up, we started on the large plot of
Côte de Beaune Les Pierres Blanches, with its two colors, just like Burgundy, in the La Pièce du
Château area of reds. The quality of the grapes was clearly better here.
The afternoon was dedicated to the first grapes of Beaune La Montée Rouge for our Fête de Famille
sparkling wine, of which the first cuvée of 2002 has just been launched. We were so charmed by this wine
that we have decided to pursue this practice, exclusive in Burgundy, of producing extremely high-quality
crémants to match the still wines of the Domaine. This time, we harvested the north-facing Pinot Noirs
with their tiny yields of small bunches with ideally high acidity and a low degree. It’s all there, already...
On the opposite, south-facing slope of the little valley, we then set to harvesting the small plot of old vines
of Beaune Blanc Premier Cru which offered a degree more, weighing in at 12°. The bunches offered
lots of lovely millerandage and will be vinified and matured separately, with a small pressing of just two pièces.
If the quality is confirmed over time, it will be given its own identity.
In the winery, it was still all hands on deck to sort the grapes as the table conveyed them for twelve hours
non-stop past the two teams. The vibrating section is particularly appreciated this year as the dry rot is
mercilessly eliminated. The damp gray rot is removed by hand.
The wooden vinification vats, patiently soaked to make them watertight and ready for the marc, were
sprayed with a high-pressure jet to remove the last tartar crystals. Haloes of vapor fill the winery with mist,
like a mystical sign of respect for natural practices that always guides our work at the Domaine. The winery
finally closed its doors at the early hour of 10pm.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Saturday 27 September 2008
Day Three
VIP visits
It was a beautifully clear day on the Côte this morning, although 12°C (54°F) and a chill wind made hats
and gloves obligatory. The vines are reddening beautifully but the end of their cycle is near. It’s time to
harvest when the vine can offer no more to its grapes. The berries finish ripening through concentration as
the clear lack of sunshine this autumn is doing nothing to help. In cold years like this, the bunches fed by
the plant itself clearly carry more of the terroir, the quintessence of which they draw through their roots
with their last strength.
Today, we finished the Côte de Beaune Les Pierres Blanches that we began yesterday before turning to
the neighboring Côte de Beaune vines on the plateau against the Montagne de Beaune looking down over
the Saône plain. There was a little rot but it was perfectly well managed.
Meanwhile, over on the Côte de Nuits, the team finished off the Pinot Noirs of En Bollery in the part
mysteriously named Les Quatre-Vingt-Deux by our winemakers, recalling the seemingly endless rows of
this huge plot. The grapes were in fine health and only 10% were discarded.
The day finished up at Vougeot in the dual-colored purple and gold clos of Prieuré rouge with the first 40
crates from this monopole tucked into a meander of the stream called La Vouge.
In the winery, work began with the gentle pressing of the crémant grapes which had spent the night
outside. This does not pose a problem this year thanks to the cool nights. Indeed, pressing the cuvée chilled
makes for a more delicate wine as one extracts the best. The whole bunches first macerate in the press for
two hours to profit from the contact between the juice and skins, which subtly liberate that pearly color,
the sign of its Pinot Noir origins, and the aromas, which seem particularly intense this year. Before even
entering the winery, you can already smell the scents of red fruits, blackberry and blackcurrant that
characterize this noble variety in its youthful prime and even hints of rose for this precious pressing.
And for the first time, we’re going to try vinification of whole bunches for part of Les Pierres Blanches.
We left 20-30% of the grapes on the bunch and one of our interns will compare the development of the
wine throughout the entire process. Watch this space...
We allowed the must to settle in the Clos Blanc harvested yesterday - after just one night in the vat the
juice has clarified well. We measure the cloudiness and clarity of the must, and when this is acceptable, we
get rid of the biggest deposits.
The day was livened up by a special visit from some major restaurateurs from Quebec and a group of
Dutch clients who arrived in their beautiful motorcars that looked wonderful in the courtyard. They
provided a little diversion from the monotonous task of sorting, which is particularly tough given the
volumes of grapes picked today.
This year, we have welcomed three interns to the winery: oenology students François from Cognac and
Diane with her singsong accent from Montpellier, and Jean-Charles who is studying for a diploma in
viticulture and oenology in Beaune. Our faithful young fluid engineer Maurice has abandoned Switzerland
for Belgium and has come back to spend his working holiday here. Four members of the Legris family
from Picardy are also here for the vendange and one of their number, Gilbert, holds the service record as
this is his 21st year as our driver on the Côte de Nuits.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Sunday 28 September 2008
Day Four
A day of rest for some
At 7.30am, the usual time of daily assembly for the two harvesting teams, the skies were already clear over
the Côte and the sun was up on a crisp late-September morning. Global warming seems to have bypassed
Burgundy for the past two years. But this morning, Sunday rest was the order of the day for all the pickers
so that energy levels will be renewed for Monday. That is when the harvesting will really kick into gear. So
far, it’s just been a gentle prelude.
The team working the Côte de Nuits will be doubled to 20 people and the winery will welcome two new
recruits; an Englishwoman from Malta and an Irishwoman to bolster the team ahead of an increase in
what is already an intense rhythm. Two extra pairs of hands will certainly come in handy.
This morning however, at 8am, four willing young winery helpers answered the call of Pierre, who is
always good humored and smiling for the start of a day’s work. On today’s agenda was the must settling
for Fête de Famille, of which there is the equivalent of about 2,000 bottles, the usual volume for this rare
cuvée. The lovelorn music from the film “Titanic” filled the room without the background noise of the
vibrating sorting table, which is also having a day off. But after a while it seemed too solemn. The radio
took over.
Meanwhile, under the winery in the half-light, the first of the Clos Blanc was being put into barrels in the
cellar, which is now air-conditioned. Jean-Luc is nervous; “Like on a first date!” The mood was one of
concentration and emotion for this most serious of moments.
Pierre had everything well prepared and organized in the cellar and in the vines. But on the staff welfare
front, the deficient quality of the cuisine has to be improved at the earliest opportunity so that the morale
of the cellar workers does not dip. A solution has to be found before tomorrow or we will be facing
rebellion! Jean-Luc the cellarman would not doubt agree, despite the fact that he enhances each occasion
with abundant charcuterie and cheeses and tasting of wine from the Domaine. And Maurice has decided
to make his famous crumble with apples from the orchard for tomorrow.
As for the wine, even though it would be premature after only three days to deliver a judgment on the
vintage, we can already observe certain similarities with 2004, when the whites showed great finesse and
honesty, and are particularly exquisite to taste right now. Like four years ago, there are high levels of
acidity, which promise longevity and mineral structure. For the reds, any prediction would seem more
perilous because the thin grape skins are fragile and one might fear a lack of color and anthocyanines. But
let’s not prejudge the situation; we must wait and see.
At the end of the morning, a group of about 40 Swiss finished off a weekend of discovering Burgundy
with a visit to our Domaine and a guided tasting by one of the world’s greatest palates on the theme of
terroir, illustrating his argument through the subtleness of the different expressions of our Vougeot
appellations.
Then, with the sun shining on the Côte, the afternoon was quiet, with the first of the must macerating in
an explosion of fruity fragrances and an ephemeral calm pervading the Domaine, a perfect moment for a
siesta or quiet prayer.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Monday 29 September 2008
Day Five
Allegretto
The crescendo tempo has become doppio – double time, and as if to salute the enthusiastic energy of the
grape-pickers, the sun greeted them this morning with a triumphant overture. The Clos du Prieuré was
the setting for today’s symphony performance.
Forty-five people make up our new orchestra on the Côte de Nuits, dedicated entirely to the two hectares
of this monopole which we began the previous day. The harvest of reds is superb, with small bunches and
some millerandage, which seems to be the tendency all along the Côte this year. The quality is excellent, but
at the price of a reduced quantity, because grapes with millerandage are by definition tiny, with a nice thick
skin but very little yield of juice. The years when the harvest is both generous and top-notch are extremely
rare. In recent memory, there was the incredible 2005, and before that, 1999 and 1990. These vintages
often eclipse those that come before and after, which is a pity because there is pleasure to be found in the
rich diversity of the same wine from one year to the next. Do a vertical tasting and you will see for
yourself.
As for the whites, they have suffered the influence of the stream called la Vouge and have been hit by a
wave of powdery mildew this year. To be certain of recognizing an affected bunch, Pierre explained to
the harvesters that one must sniff them and if they smell of dew, they are discarded. It’s powdery mildew,
which forms a gray, pungent veil that contaminates the must. This fungus develops in moist conditions,
and is encouraged by wide temperature differences between night and day. The fungi we prefer are the cèpe
mushrooms that are abundant this year in the Forêt de Cîteaux.
The day ended on a high note in the magnificent upper plot of Clos Vougeot just to the left of the
château entrance, which is heated by the sun against the wall. The first bunches of this world-renowned
grand cru were delicately picked. Here too, one has the same impression of the small bunches promising
concentration rather than volume.
To the south, the small crew on the Côte de Beaune concentrated on the large plot of 1.1 hectares of
Pommard Les Petits Noizons, which showed reasonably healthy grapes and good maturity with an
expected 12% alcohol by volume. A fair amount of sorting was required, with 15 to 20% discarded in the
winery. A rare sight here was finding two generations of grapes in the same bunch – some green ones
alongside ripe berries. This necessitates cutting away in the fruit, no easy task.
In the winery, the fastidious but essential sorting continued. The valiant team is now fully up to speed. Just
as well, because the rhythm has picked up from two hectares harvested a day to three, with the arrival of
new pickers. And the pressure is growing with rain forecast for the end of the week. But our two AngloSaxon recruits have provided some skilled handiwork for the past three days: Gill from Ireland and
Bernice from Malta, both trained by Pierre in person.
They will learn about the gentle pumping over which is done to moisten the cap, without stirring up and
above all without oxygenating the fragile marc at this delicate stage. One must be very careful, given the
strong concentration of polyphenols to be gently extracted. This is the famous pre-fermentation cold
maceration that encourages color extraction at the aqueous stage, whilst the extraction in the alcoholic
liquid after fermentation will provide the tannins. The cellar doors closed at 10pm.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Day Six
C’est magnifique!
With the arrival of autumn, the vines take on their most attractive colors. Purplish red with a touch of
orange here and there, bright yellow among the increasingly scarce green on the leaves make for an
enchanting vineyard landscape. Pleasures for the eyes are all around, in the vines and in the winery. This
morning the sweet atmosphere was particularly palpable. The cloud cover which crept over had a part to
play in this. The sun is blocked out and the wind has died down. One can feel the dampness building, like
a final breath between two seasons.
The same is true in the winery. Our sorters watched the last of the white grapes for the Côte de Beaune
Les Pierres Blanches arrive, the bunches deep gold, the berries nicely ripe. Minimal sorting and then
straight to the press. The pressing took two hours, and the first batch was done in the afternoon, the last
at 9pm. Then the juice was left to sit quietly in a stainless vat for settling.
In the meantime, Pierre suggested a visit round the vineyard to Gill and Bérénice, our two Englishspeakers responsible for helping him with his languages. In exchange, they have the privilege of
accompanying him on his rounds. This morning, he inspected our vines in Corton Charlemagne to
determine the date for harvesting. To do this, he tastes and examines the bunches. It’s simple; you just
have to hold the berries up to the sun, and if you can see the pips through the translucent flesh, the grape
is ripe. Simple, maybe, but the vines require year-round care and they seem to thrive particularly well on
our organic culture practices.
On the Côte de Nuits, the day was dedicated to the premier crus. The harvesters arrived on the dot of 8am
at the large steep plot of Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Damodes, near Vosne-Romanée. By
11am, all the grapes had been gathered and our happy team moved on to the other premier cru to the south,
in the spot known as Les Corvées Pagets situated in the commune of Prémeaux, not far from the
Domaine.
In the winery, things were pumping. The Red Hot Chili Peppers provided a pulsing backbeat over the
noise of the sorting table, as if echoing Pierre’s calls for the sorters to stay vigilant to the task before them.
Noon means the welcome arrival of the lunch break. Odile, who usually works at the Domaine in the
vines, is on detachment to the catering department. She sets the table, acts as waitress, and generally looks
after the workforce. Afterwards, she goes back to her post in the winery.
The grapes continued arriving and at the end of the afternoon came a welcome surprise. The grapes for
the Vougeot Premier Cru Les Cras had 90% millerandage and needed very little sorting. C’est magnifique!
The quality is so good that Pierre decided to vinify 30% in whole bunches. The wine should thus gain in
depth and power, but before knowing the result, we’ll have to wait several months.
For a final word, let’s go down to the cellar. There, the barrels are waiting, ready to welcome their precious
contents before the long and careful ageing.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Wednesday 1 October
Day Seven
Grand Crus
The gray skies cast a faint veil of sadness over the Côte as the cold weather settles in with a daily 12°C and
a stiff northeasterly wind. But luckily, we were spared the rain for this day spent almost exclusively on the
grand crus, a “root” day in the lunar calendar. A potent symbol for the expression of terroir. Spirits were high
today at the prospect of bringing in the grand crus before the wet weather.
On the Côte de Beaune, the morning was dedicated to the divine round hill of Corton. CortonCharlemagne, this great among great white wines, promises a sumptuous harvest on the flanks of this
long steep vine, with its southern exposure where the invasive amaranthe has tested the patience of the
vine growers all summer. The hard labor of the bearers was rewarded because the grapes are lovely golden
color with good concentration. One can already taste a good balance between sweetness and acidity, that
tension which allows long ageing. On the eastern slopes, the pickers have been busy on the Corton Clos
du Roi where the harvest is split into two parts. At the top of the plot, the bunches have a lot of
millerandage, or so-called “hens and chickens,” whereas lower down, the bunches are a more regular size,
illustrating the difference in flowering on a single plot. The day’s picking continued with the Beaune
Premier Cru Clos du Roy and the Beaune Premier Cru Les Grèves.
On the Côte de Nuits, the precious vines of the Bonnes Mares and the Charmes-Chambertin Les
Mazoyères were harvested this morning. Every single bunch has millerandage, the first time our winemaker
has ever seen 100% of the crop exhibit this. The quality is sublime and the most careful vinification should
bring this out. Very little sorting required (less than 10%), and an incredible degree of potential alcohol of
at least 13% on the mustimeter. Then we finished the Vougeot le Premier Cru Les Cras, our “solar”
vine, which also has magnificent bunches, once again with the desirable millerandage. But there is a price to
pay for this dizzyingly fabulous quality, which is the low yield that has been observed on plot after plot.
Although we anticipated a drop, no one thought we’d lose up to half the usual quantity of the reds. The
number of crates coming in is high, but the volume after de-stalking falls dramatically due to the
minuscule size of the grapes with millerandage. Of these two sublime vineyards, the harvest at the Charmes
wins by a nose.
For the winery, it was a big day requiring intense concentration because the master winemaker called for
redoubled attention for these grand crus, which he has decided to partially vinify in whole bunches (30% for
les Cras). In fact, the de-stalking process has not managed to remove all those precious little berries from
the stalks, so he assigned someone to recover them by hand. Finding it hard to believe the low yield, he
checked the reject bins himself thinking the sorters were perhaps being over zealous, but it was not the
case. Fermentation within an uncrushed berry, known as intracellular, will help to bring softness over time.
The sugars will ferment very gradually and will cause the grapes to burst at the end of fermentation. This
brings gains in depth and aroma with the fruity amylic notes that are found Beaujolais made in this way
(called in that region semi-carbonic fermentation). The stalks will play a beneficial role in the vat providing
drainage and aeration.
Alongside, in the small stainless vats, the settling of the Côte de Beaune blanc is going on. One night is
enough to clarify the must, as confirmed by the lab results on cloudiness and nitrogen. Another technical
innovation this year is the portable pH-meter which allows measurement of the acidity in the juice from
the press in real time. This means we can judge with precision when to separate the end of the pressing to
be left to settle apart, then made into wine separately before being used in assemblage at the end of ageing.
The winery doors closed tonight at 11.30pm. The night’s rest will be short.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Thursday 2 October 2008
Day Eight
A “flower” day, blessed by the gods
This “flower” day in the lunar calendar began under a leaden sky. But as we all know, Burgundy is a land
blessed by the gods, and the rain we were expecting was soon blown away by Zephyr. Harvesting on both
côtes continued with gusto. Tomorrow afternoon, the Côte de Beaune will be finished, leaving the GevreyChambertin area and part of the Clos Blanc.
On the Côte de Beaune, the day was dedicated to Beaune La Montée Rouge, starting with the reds. This
plot grows on a very steep slope that our courageous harvesters climbed up and down all day. The Pinot
Noir grapes were rigorously sorted to eliminate those berries damaged by gray rot. We were expecting it,
however, as the soil here is wetter than elsewhere and the grapes have suffered from the tricky weather
we’ve had this year.
At the end of the afternoon, the team attacked the whites of La Montée Rouge. The Chardonnay is better
located than the Pinot and the grapes were in very good condition. We salute our valiant vendangeurs’ hard
work as they filled 140 crates, each holding 20kg of grapes.
On the Côte de Nuits, the morning was spent on the Clos Blanc where the rows nearer the wall offered
some fine fruit. On this part of Clos Blanc, there are also a few bunches of Pinot Gris which contribute to
the special and unique character of this great wine. The cool weather and a spot of sunshine have kept the
grapes healthy to the satisfaction of the harvesters.
To avoid monotony and more importantly because maturity has been reached, the beginning of the
afternoon was spent on the Gamay vines in the En Bollery area, in a plot known as Les Terres d’en Face.
The grapes were fat and fine, and will enjoy the same vinification and ageing process as our Pinot Noirs –
a practice virtually unheard of in Burgundy.
At the end of the afternoon – 5pm to be precise – the sun’s beams fell on our precious Musigny and it
was time to harvest its rare fruit. Ten pickers were dedicated to the task and gathered ten crates – or 200kg
– under the watchful eye of Thierry, our head of cultivation. Rare as they will be this year, the bunches all
have good millerandage, and the first sorting will take place tomorrow morning, by hand, in keeping with
tradition.
We are now up to cruising speed in the winery, and the team has everything in control. Life is organized
around the press and follows Pierre’s timetable. The Chardonnays are resting outside under cover
overnight and will be pressed tomorrow morning, thus avoiding any rupture in the cold chain. The team
does three pressings each day: one at 7.30am, another at 2pm and the last at 7pm.
In the cool peace of the cellar, six pièces of Clos Blanc, put in the barrel just two days ago, are resting
sleepily, awaiting the first alcoholic fermentation, their bung holes open.
It’s 11pm. Shhh – everyone’s asleep!
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Friday 3 October 2008
Day Nine
Musigny – grains of caviar
The thermometer read just 7°C (45°F) this morning, and the cold was penetrating on a damp, gray day.
But this had no bearing on the pace of work, spurred on by the imperturbable and serene energy of our
attentive and smiling winemaker. Pierre was happy to have chosen this window in the weather which has
proven perfect for harvesting.
On the Côte de Beaune, Fabrice took his team for the last time to that adorable valley where almost all the
wines are ours, the heart of Beaune La Montée Rouge. This half-hectare plot of Beaune blanc is a gem
surrounded by reds, producing a nectar of a wine. It was the team’s last harvest for the Domaine before
heading off in the afternoon to give a helping hand to Grégory, our viniculturist for the Maison JeanClaude Boisset. The grapes were cold pressed as they arrived in the winery and then underwent a 13°C
(55°F) stabulation in the vat where fermentation will later begin. This is another trial which we hope will
help us optimize the starting point of fermentation. Watch this space…
From the Côte de Nuits team, a detachment of nine pickers set to destalking the Musigny grape by
grape in a seemingly endless string of beads in the winery. They were all willing workers, and among them
some veterans on their third year at the task. But this year, the job was even more difficult as the tightly
packed bunches of “hens and chickens,” characteristic of the millerandage in this year’s crop, were hard to
separate and every berry must remain intact. This painstaking and dedicated task resulted in eight crates of
caviar which tomorrow will go into vat N°31, dedicated to our most precious wine. The sorters are so
serious and dedicated that in the winery, work continued at the same rhythm in the afternoon and ten
more crates of 15kg were completed.
At Vougeot, in the shadow of the Château, we harvested the equivalent of a press full; 120 crates of Clos
Blanc “N° 2,” from the heart of our golden triangle. Large bunches of Chardonnay quite different from
other years, with more millerandage, a lower yield in juice, but still wonderfully golden. The patches of
powdery mildew are nothing to worry about and are quickly removed.
Just before the downpour which miraculously brought the day to a close at teatime, we finished the
Gamays of En Bollery started yesterday, which illustrate the differences between cepages. The Pinot Noir
grown on the same plot and which surrounds the Gamay has resisted the rot far less well, and after
rigorous sorting gave a yield of around 30 hectoliters/hectare, while the more robust Gamay with no
millerandage and very little rot nudged 40 hl/ha. The resulting juice was so generous that Pierre decided –
for the first time – to “bleed” some of the vats, taking off some of the first-run juice at the bottom of the
vessel, thereby concentrating the remainder on the skins.
In the winery, which increasingly resembles a beehive, everyone was busy with the tasks that the orchestra
leader has assigned them. The sorting table’s conveyor belt continued its relentless work to eliminate the
bad fruit, but there was also the settling to attend to, the filling of barrels, cleaning the press, measuring the
densities and taking the daily samples to the laboratory, taking out the stalks, cleaning the crates, pumping
over, and soon we’ll have to think of pigeages, or pushing down the caps. Our two English-speakers left
yesterday and the language of Molière has once again taken over from Shakespeare’s tongue.
But not for long, because a few Germanic accents were heard in the cellar where a young woman crowned
“the best sommelier in Germany” came to taste the 2006, and who seemed to appreciate the quality of
Pierre’s first vintage.
And then in the silence which only reins here at night, it is with a certain emotion that we noticed the first
frisson of fermentation in the Savigny-Lès-Beaune Premier Cru Les Marconnets and Bourgogne Les
Crotots. Life follows its immutable course…
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Saturday 4 October 2008
Day Ten
The Côte de Nuits
Cold and foggy. Daybreak was met with dull weather, but as long as it’s not raining, that’s fine, because the
grape-picker, just like the Pinot Noir, is above all allergic to wet weather.
These last few days will now be spent on the Côte de Nuits where one third of our vines are to be found.
The team has been cut to about 30 people and was split in two. One half spent the morning harvesting
grapes in our top-of-the-range vines at Musigny. We have just two lots of six rows, on the slopes
overlooking Vougeot, which will provide two-and-a-half pièces, maybe even less this year. Half has now
been harvested with the arrival of 16 crates at 10.15am at the Domaine, carefully packed in the back of a
small truck driven by the jovial Christophe. The circle of patient sorters had already formed, separating out
each grape since dawn in a religious silence. They scarcely acknowledged the arrival of these new crates,
which kept them busy all day in a cheerful redemption.
The other team harvested the Clos Blanc in the central N°3 plot until 11am. Then the morning continued
some 10km north at Gevrey-Chambertin, our second “specialty” after Vougeot. Today we made our first
inroads there with the plot called Murot, on the lower section.
Today was, exceptionally, spent entirely in the vines, for two reasons. The midday meal could not be
served in the usual “canteen” in the Agencourt’s family house, and also we wanted to make the most of
the fine weather, so the workers were fuelled by ample sandwiches washed down with a few decent
bottles.
The afternoon was spent in the attractive vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin with the Galand plot. This is
an old vine and it provided a nice surprise because thanks to the elimination of some bunches mid-season,
it hasn’t suffered from the dampness of its location and produced bunches with good millerandage. Happily,
the sun chased away the morning clouds and beamed triumphantly down from a blue sky dotted with
puffy cumulus. But in the middle of the afternoon, the weather began to look threatening as a storm
brewed. In Vougeot, there was even hail in the downpour that was as unexpected as it was violent,
bringing the pickers’ day to a premature halt.
In the winery, three staff had the day off and Patricia, our winemaker’s young wife, came in to lend a hand
on the sorting table. It took all morning to process the 220 crates which will make two pressings of Clos
Blanc. The pressing itself takes two hours, but it takes an hour-and-half to fill the press, and then another
half-hour is needed to hand clean the press once the last drop of juice has been extracted. The whole cycle
then takes four hours, which means we can’t do more than three presses in a day, especially since we press
very gently. The aim is not to squash in as many bunches as possible, but on the contrary, to leave some
space so the stalks and the pips aerate the marc and help to alleviate the crushing of the berries. The first
juice is always the clearest, this time spectacularly so. Pierre added to it a little fine lees which will bring
structure. Juice that is too pure can result in a wine that is too thin, so a good eye is required.
Today began a new stage in the vinification, the first pigeages, or pushing in of the caps for the three vats
in fermentation using the pigeou, a long stick. With this volume of matter, the caps could well become very
thick and no doubt we’ll have to use legs later on.
At 6pm, a silent red hot-air balloon flew high over the Côte. The low sun stretched its golden shadows
over the glowing vineyards in this ephemeral Indian summer. The sky was streaked with flaming marble,
like a baptism of fire over the Côte d'Or. Tomorrow will come the Sunday rest for the pickers, while a
handful of the faithful will celebrate a pagan mass in the winery.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Sunday 5 October 2008
Day Eleven
Visions of a vintage in the making
On this day of the Lord, an insolent sun mocks the 5°C (41°F), which froze us this morning and almost
made us forget the fatigue which creeps into every muscle and leaves rings under the eyes. But the energy
of youth swept away the trials of the elements and work was underway by 8am in the winery.
At last a nascent wine in a glass – our brunette intern, Diane, was excited to show off the intense raspberry
color of the first juice of the Bourgogne Les Crotots which is just beginning to fizz. The density of 1070 is
good. We must take care to preserve the fruit, which is already delicious.
Nearby, Maurice and Jean-Charles were struggling to push in the first cap of the vat, which bears the
number 21 written in Côte de Beaune chalk. A third of the grapes were not destalked, which makes the
task all the harder, but they are strong chaps. On the girls’ team, Patricia and Stéphanie between them had
to process 10 small crates of Musigny this morning and launched into the task with good humor. Our
cellar man Jean-Luc, who disappeared yesterday to indulge his other passion and write a sports report, this
morning put 450 liters of Clos Blanc into barrels from the local Rousseau cooperage, which will add polish
the wine.
On this pleasant Sunday, also St Fleur’s day, the faithful servants of a multiple god share the same gentlepaced and patient work; that of creating this new vintage. This has meant harvesting only the best, which
didn’t give itself up easily, but rather had to be worked for.
It requires cutting with secateurs, drawing deep in one’s soul, one’s very essence, and then a lot of patience
once in the vat. The ageing in the cellar is another long process, before one can finally reveal it to the
world, much, much later. That is at least one year away for the whites, which seem to contain an
infinitesimal pinch of genius, the golden twinkle of a generous reflection, or perhaps mirages seen from
afar.
And for the reds, which are just starting to fizz, it seem much too early to guess at their destiny, but when
you look through the glass, it seems you can detect in this 2008 a change, as if a strong character already
exists in there.
The little Pinot Noir, which has battled against its worst enemies of cold and rain, put up a good fight with
the only weapons available – drawing deep on its roots to find the mystic forces of the terroir which will
one day, much later, will be recalled in the glass after its long and careful transformation into wine. It will
have to show a willing personality, and demonstrate just how noble this cépage is, and its lineage will
triumph over the hostility of nature. Above all, it will be Burgundy – straight and pure, powerful without
aggressiveness and with all the intelligence of its birthright.
Those responsible for making it into wine – with rigor, and intransigence even – will help it transcend its
suffering. It didn’t see much sun, so it will have to reach for the light. But from suffering comes greatness
and from pain comes wisdom – we were inspired by Chinese philosophy this morning!
It is about an idealistic vision, or rather a foresight born of Pierre’s Zen-like calm and communicative
serenity. Between two jobs, he still finds the time to sell some wine, and he remains optimistic,
concentrated, calm and serine about this vintage.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Monday 6 October 2008
Day Twelve
The finish in the air
There was contained emotion this morning on the last section of Clos Blanc, Number 4, which was
picked in a chilly 2°C (36°F). This was the final harvest of the year in our illustrious vineyard. This time we
were gathering grapes at the point of the triangle, against the porch, which will just about give two
pressings of nice whole bunches. The grapes have stood up well and despite the rain of the last few days,
have not succumbed to rot, even of the noble variety.
The end of the morning was spent a bit higher up in a no less prestigious vine which brings us back each
day like a call to prayer. Twenty crates of Musigny were gathered in the middle of the second plot before
being sorted in the winery, berry by tiny berry, as always.
In the afternoon, the team attacked the immense vine of Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice, one the most
pleasant surprises of the year. This elongated plot is quite demoralizing for the pickers as they approach
the end of their season because the end of it is scarcely in sight. But this village appellation is notable in that
it goes down a long way towards the plain, with good yet unusual soil on this side of the route nationale.
Thanks to some rigorous springtime pruning particularly of suckers – the equivalent attention for a grand
cru – the bunches have been well aerated and there is no rot despite the high moisture in this sector
especially in the areas on soil as opposed to those on more stony ground. There is much less millerandage in
Gevrey than at Vougeot and the bunches are in great shape requiring minimal sorting. It already promises
an excellent juice.
In the winery three new young recruits, Céline, Camille and Wandrille who are doing a “tour de France”
following the harvests, arrived Saturday afternoon and have boosted the team with their patient and
serious approach. The work is now less centered on sorting, thanks to the good quality of the grapes.
Today the cellar turned to a different task, and took on a different odor. Pierre began aeration as the
fermentations get underway: five vats have already started, two others are on the verge. But the cold
temperatures of this late season have prompted the winemaker to give a helping hand to start the
fermentation of the Vougeot Clos du Prieuré blanc with the addition of biodynamic yeasts from
Champagne to boost the indigenous yeasts. Another new trial to evaluate.
Another experiment underway concerns the Clos Vougeot and Les Cras carried out by the enologist intern
Diane on the hygiene chain. She has followed this at every stage of the winemaking process from the
vine with the first sample bunches, to the sorting table, destalking, transfer to vats and then barrels, up to
bottling, measuring samples on all of the equipment in contact with the grape matter. Being thorough in
terms of cleaning leaves no room for slackness, but on the other hand it is undesirable to be operating in a
sterile environment. Life is indispensable in the atmosphere of a winery, for the healthy development of
the yeasts, of bacteria so the balance is respected in the transforming products, and for the healthy
competition between all these living organisms. We will be fascinated to see the results of this study in a
year or two which should further our understanding of the processes of vinification and the microbial life
of wine, and possibly lead us to modify our procedures.
The other main task of the day was individually pulling off the grapes for the Musigny, with a new team of
nine people producing 160kg of velvety berries at the end of the day. The adorable little vat filled up nice
and gently, held at 12°C (54°F).
Meanwhile, the whites were undergoing cold stabulation. For the reds, there was gentle pumping over
prior to fermentation and pigeage for the vats already fermenting. The rich colors have set in, to the
winemaker’s relief. Volatile flavors floated in the air. The evening rain seemed to spell out the weather for
the end of the harvest. The winery doors closed at 8pm. A good night’s sleep lay ahead, or a party for the
younger ones.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Tuesday 7 October 2008
Day Thirteen
Some choice little plots
The winery came to life at 8am, buzzing like a beehive. The pickers were already in the vines of GevreyChambertin La Justice to finish off the section on gravel. The day began gray and chilly, but despite
numb fingers and sleep-filled eyes (for some), 24 crates were delivered this morning to the winery into the
expert hands of our sorters.
Sorting the crates of Musigny was coming to an end as vat N°31 filled up. The precious grapes are scarce
this year, so the rare Musigny will become with the 2008 vintage extremely rare.
The afternoon was spent in the small plots of Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin. For our
pickers, it was like a stroll in the vineyards in the sun that had finally put in an appearance, warming both
the air and our spirits.
At Gevrey, two small plots were harvested, La route du Tram and Les Galands, which finished off the
Gevrey cuvée. At Chambolle, the plots known as Les Condemennes, Les Chardannes, premier cru Les
Véroilles, Les Argillières and the premier cru Les Baudes, were completed by the end of the day.
Their grapes will make up our appellation village Chambolle-Musigny, one of the Domaine’s rare cuvées
composed of a blend from various small plots. Here again, the condition of the grapes was very pleasing.
In the winery, the heady emanations from fermentation fill the air and rouse the spirits. The interns,
watching out for the first signs of bubbling in the vats, have sometimes been concerned at the changes in
color and appearance of the musts as they transform. “Pierre, is that normal?” is their recurring question.
Now a third of the vats have started fermentation, while the N°8 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Marconnets and
the N° 28 Bourgogne Les Crotots are already at the end of fermentation. The maceration in open wooden
vats will continue for another 10 days or so to extract sufficient tannins.
The first tastings reveal some lovely colors going from the deep red of our wines from the Côte de Nuits
to a raspberry tint for those from the Côte de Beaune, with degrees of alcohol ranging from 12.5° to 13°.
The aromatic notes of red fruit that are found on the nose are also in evidence in the mouth.
The languishing whites are taking their time, to the point that Pierre has not put all of the Clos Blanc in
barrels yet. As a precautionary measure, he’d rather see the fermentation start in the stainless vats, away
from any potentially harmful influences. The advantage of this is that we have the sublime pleasure of
tasting the Clos Blanc as a vin doux. Smooth and honey tasting, with an amber yellow color, the grape juice
has not yet fully become wine and is a treat for the senses.
The day drew to a close at 8pm, the vats covered over for the night, their temperature set so the must is
neither too warm nor too cold. The lights out, we left nature to do her work.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Wednesday 8 October 2008
Day Fourteen
Rain over Chambertin
This penultimate day of the grape harvest has an end-of-season feel to it. Incessant rain swept the Côte all
day under a low and heavy sky, as the large gray clouds off-load. It was cold and miserable: around 12°C
(54°F). The pickers were well wrapped up in oilskins and boots to slosh through the mud. When the rain
became too hard, they stopped before carrying on bravely. Nature was reminding us of her presence.
This morning’s target was Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Bel Air, right up against the mountain with
its terrible Austrian pines which flourish to the detriment of the vine. The grapes again have much
millerandage, with lots of small bunches and little rot which was quickly eliminated. We brought in around
two tons or enough to fill six or seven pièces, practically the same as last year.
The afternoon was spent in the very pretty vines of Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles, the Domaine’s
first, and which always has a special place in our hearts. Here we’ve gone up another rung in terms of
quality: “superb” is the only way to describe these grapes. This year King Chambertin will truly have
shown us his full magnificence.
Because of the rain, the open crates were protected with a tarpaulin on the truck. On arrival at the winery,
the vibrating table and then the long sloping sorting table shook off any water that remained, filling a juice
crate every couple of hours. The rain therefore had no direct affect on the grapes today, but tomorrow it
might, because the vine absorbs water quickly. We’ll see...
At this stage, half the vats have started their fermentation and two are coming to the end. The warm
conditions in the winery should see the rest underway very soon. The fermentations are going ahead
nicely, progressively and gently. The vats are staying hot and the extraction of color and tannins is ideal, no
doubt due to the fact they have not suffered any hydro-stress and therefore have no deficiency in nitrogen,
which itself feeds the yeasts and makes them more active. As a result, the Beaune Grèves has a dazzling
color even though it has only just started to ferment. We have lightly chaptalised the Les Crotots and Les
Marconnets with the aim of prolonging the fermentations.
As for the whites, the well-tuned ear will detect in the silence of the cellar the first signs of fermentation in
the barrel, but not yet in the vat. No one knows quite why they are taking so long to start. Perhaps because
of the general coolness, but we’ve been waiting a long time.
The 2008 vintage is already being compared to 2004, but Pierre thinks that it has all the qualities to be
superior, and that it will be more in line with 2006 and 2007; delicate and subtle years.
We have lost two sorters, Caroline and also Audrey, who is starting the harvest in her own domaine in the
Hautes-Côtes. The pigeage are still being done on the Charmes-Chambertin, where the caps are proving
particularly difficult to push in thanks to very compact berries – a very good sign, in fact.
And it was almost the end of the Musigny with the last 16 crates. But the day wasn’t long enough to
complete this painstaking work; one crate remains for tomorrow morning. Our boss is happy that this task
was better spread out this year with a small daily arrival, erasing the bad memory of the end of the harvests
in 2007 with dozens of demoralizing crates stacked up to destalk in a hurry.
Lights out at 7pm. Tomorrow is the last day of the harvests and time for the traditional end of harvest
paulée celebration.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008
Thursday 9 October 2008
Day Fifteen
Saving the best until last...
This morning, the team finished off our Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles, up against its perfectly
rounded and golden dry stone wall. Then to cap off the 2008 vendanges in style, Pierre had saved the best
until last – the Domaine’s most extraordinary plot of vines planted en foule with 36,000 vines per hectare
instead of the more usual 10,000. These vines are staked but have no trellising and the plants are very close
together. They produce half as many bunches per vine – an average of four instead of eight – but because
the vines are in competition, they defend themselves better against disease, producing a very healthy crop.
A very encouraging piece of information from this experiment.
This plot offers an unusual vision of a vineyard, like a little sea of very dense vine. It looked so beautiful
today, bathed by the easterly sun which made its red and gold leaves glow and shimmer in the fresh air at
the top of the Côte. The little bunches were so perfect that the deer were even tempted to try them out,
waiting prudently until they were ripe before nibbling the grapes from the top of the plot, leaving only the
bare stalks behind to bear witness to their visit. It’s hard to blame them. We lost a quarter-barrel to these
noble beasts that we sometimes see looking into the distance from the edge of the pine forest before the
hunting season opens.
Fine as they were, the grapes still went on the sorting table as part of our quest for perfection. Winemaker
Pierre was insistent to the last, perhaps aware our young team could be tempted to slacken off, from
tiredness or even habit already.
Work in the winery goes on. The last crate of Musigny was destalked and completed this precious cuvée,
which can now finally and luxuriously give in to the heat. But the development of the wine will continue
for long months yet. The macerations and fermentations of the reds in open vats will last another two
weeks, before taking their turn in the vertical press and being put into barrels where they will remain until
2010 for the most tardy.
As for the whites, this year we are introducing some new elements with four huge 450 liter barrels, two of
which will be filled with Le Clos Blanc, one with the Vougeot Le Prieuré and the other with Côte de
Beaune. These barrels hold almost double that of the traditional Burgundian 228 liter pièces. As they give
their oak to the wines, they bring finesse and richness thanks to the greater contact with the lees. This is
also the first year for our egg-shaped barrel – the work of one of France’s master craftsmen from the
Rousseau cooperage – which will also be home to Le Clos Blanc. This will give us a unique and unusual
palette to our great Cistercian white, and a cuvée that will be even more delicate and complex. This will be a
particularly fine year indeed for these pure whites that will bear wonderful witness to our Burgundian
terroir. It is for this result that we are driven to go further anytime we can.
New this year for the reds was the testing of partial destalking for the Vougeot Les Cras and Côte de
Beaune les Pierres Blanches cuvées.
Pierre is very happy with the 2008 harvest, firstly because of the judiciously chosen date for the event that
was neither too soon nor too late, secondly because the vendanges were very well organized, and lastly
because these wines, although still young, are already promising fine things to come.
Tonight it’s the paulée; the traditional end of harvest celebratory meal prepared by Thierry Jeannin. We
wager that fatigue will be forgotten by everybody delighted to close these two weeks of shared toil. We
wish the 2008 vintage a beautiful future after such a tricky start. It’s 7pm and time to close the winery
doors. All is calm and quiet.
Les Vendanges au Domaine de la Vougeraie – Millésime 2008