SDC’s Man in the Field Part 1
Euan’s Harvest experience
Monday 26th Sep – Stopham – Bacchus Day
Dear South Downs Cellars, my first day down at Stopham got off to a quick and early start. The pickers had been on the go for a little while placing the picked Bacchus grapes into 20kg crates spaced out under the vines. We wasted no time in moving the crates out ready for the tractor to come down the row, myself and another taking turns in picking the full crates up from under the vines and passing them to the other on the back of the ‘small’ trailer being pulled by the tractor.
At the end of the row the tractor would drive alongside a ‘larger’ trailer with three pallets on it. We would repeat this process until all three pallets were loaded with at least 25 full crates. Once ratchet-strapped, then off to the Winery where the rest of the team were waiting for us. The loaded pallets were taken off the trailer and the Winery team unloaded the crates carefully onto the NEW conveyor belt where they dropped down into the de-stemmer before the pulp was pumped into the press.
After a quick mid-morning coffee break we headed back out to the vineyard to continue picking up crates the pickers had filled in our absence. We joined the pickers on the last row or two to give us another three full pallets. To the untrained eye, such as my own, I couldn’t tell the quality of the grapes but I was assured that they look great; full, good sized bunches with next to no sign of botrytis. The pickers went off to lunch as we headed back to the vineyard to process the second load of grapes. Pumped into the press, the morning haul gave us a two ton full press and it started its 2 hour pressing process.
Once pressed and starting to flow out into the tray below Phylia is added, which protects the wine from the risk of Oxidation. Once the tray is almost full and about to be pumped into a tank SO2 & Enzymes are added. SO2 acts as an organic preservative and improves fermentation, while Enzymes break down the Pectin which clouds the wine, therefore helping for a greater yield as well as aromatic characteristics.
After lunch the process began again and before the end of the day we were able to get another full and final Bacchus press underway.
Thu 29th – Stopham – Pinot Noir, Auxerrois and Chardonnay
Dear South Downs Cellars, my second venture down to Stopham brought me sparkling picking/ pressing day. The pickers had started promptly at about 7am, so by the time I got there about an hour later they had made rapid progress with the Pinot Noir. We went about picking up the Pinot Noir crates as the pickers moved on to the few rows of Auxerrois; giving them a hand on the last couple of row. This gave us three full pallets and off to the press we went. Both grape varieties looked like good full bunches with very little, if any, botrytis or small berries, thus the pickers being able to make such good progress, maybe the odd younger vine not producing as much as the more established ones.
The main difference between loading the press today, as opposed to the Bacchus a few days ago, was that we did not use the de-stemmer. Instead the crates were emptied out onto the conveyor belt taking the bunches straight up to dropping directly into the press. A full press this time gave us 1.5 tonnes (roughly half the tonnage of the Bacchus).
We swiftly headed back out to the vineyard to start collecting the crates of Chardonnay the pickers had moved on to picking. Three full pallets later we were back to the winery to load the press and lunch. I was given a new job on the parapet of the press. Leaning over into the top of the press, elbows (cleaned) deep moving the dropping Chardonnay grapes from the conveyor belt to the corners of the horizontal cylindrical press to make it up evenly.
Once pressed the Chardonnay (the Cuvee) was pumped into a separate tank to the Pinot Noir and Auxerrois to establish the quality and choose what to do with the Cuvee, use it in the sparkling blend, make a Blanc de Blanc or even craft a still Chardonnay. We were able to do two 1.5 Ton presses of Chardonnay in the day.
The pickers did so well there was no need to go down on Monday the 3rd Oct.
Thu 6th Oct – Stopham – Pinot Gris
Dear South Downs Cellars on my first day in October at Stopham we moved on to Pinot Gris. The bunches are looking good, however in some parts small berries and botrytis were evident. Not enough to make a big impact on the yield but it makes it a little harder for the pickers to plough on with picking. But they had a good early start and three pallets were full in no time. Pinot Gris brought the de-stemmer back into play and once we brought the second full trailer back, the first Pinot Gris press could begin. We were able to get two Pinot Gris presses done today.
Sat 8th – Leonardslee – Pinotage
Dear South Downs Cellars, my wine harvest experience continued this time over at Leonardslee where I was fortunate enough to be invited (through our connections with them) to their Vineyard Harvest Lunch. I took along my father, as a keen gardener I thought he’d make my slow picking not look so bad! Arriving for 10am we were greeted with warm pastries and bubbly – very nice. After half an hour or so to acclimatise ourselves the MD of their wine enterprise, Barry Anderson, welcomed us and spoke about what we’d be doing on the day, which was picking Pinotage. England’s first Pinotage Vineyard was first harvested in 2020 and is set to be released in 2023 - of which we had a little taste of later on. But before that we started picking. There were roughly 50 of us in attendance and ten rows of Pinotage to pick. Buckets in hand and dad with his own snippers, we choose our row and thankfully accompanied by three/four others, who turned out to be good pickers, we got to work; collecting every bunch in sight, removing any signs of the odd small unripened green grape as well as any area of botrytis. Dispatching any leaves in the way and wrestling the odd bunch away from what it had wrapped itself around, we had what was mostly what looked to be a good yield of plumptious grapes.
Crates were at either end of the row and we soon hoped for the moment that the crates at the end of the row felt nearer than the ones where we had started.
By this point we felt we were one of the quicker rows, not that it was a race at all but knowing we were doing a thorough job and overhearing neighbouring rows taking pictures of their work for social media, we seemed to be moving ahead of them. We got to the end of the row in what we all felt was enough picking for one day; realising we had a long arduous trip of a couple of minutes back up to where we started from for lunch, particularly on what turned out to be a glorious sunny October day. Lunch was in a quintessentially British setting. A hexagon marquee with transparent sides situated with Leonardslee gardens behind us, their restaurant ‘Interlude’ to one side, the vines we’d just come from to the other and with the downs as a stunning backdrop.
There was a speech from the MD thanking us for our hard work before introducing their wine maker from their sister vineyard Benguela Cove, South Africa with whom we tried Leonardslee’s 2020 Pinotage which we all decided was nice but will be interesting to see what it is like next year when set for release. Harvest lunch was a fantastic display including sliced roast porchetta with salsa verde, Boerewors with Chakalaka, herb and garlic roast potatoes, green beans with lemon vinaigrette and finally honey roasted heritage carrots. To accompany this wonderful feast we had their delicious Benguela Cove Sauvignon Blanc and for those who preferred a red, their Benguela Cove Collage, made with a blend of grapes which I believe is synonymous with Bordeaux.
This was followed by Amaretto Syllabub which concluded our day, although there was tea and coffee still available and were more than welcome to roam the grounds to take in everything else Leonardslee had to offer.
A great day was had and particularly interesting to see what another Sussex vineyard is doing to make themselves different to the ever burgeoning county’s fine vineyards.
To be continued in part 2...