We are at Domaine Monrozier – Château des Moriers in the Beaujolais region of France, a family vineyard owned since 1850. The domaine makes Fleurie and Moulin à Vent, red wines and precious juice from the Gamay grapes – the 2 most famous Crus in the region. From the domaine’s garden you have a stunning and I’d say a perfect view of the actual Moulin à Vent, a windmill standing proudly in the sun rise and shining at night; further away and even prouder is the Mont Blanc whom shadow breaks in the early morning ruby red sky. In this fairy tale landscape starts a long week of picking, but also of discovery, laughter and social bonding. We are very lucky, our grapes are of an amazing quality, the weather is always with us and after a few trees, the pickers are already falling in love with the fruit.
After 2 hours of work, the “casse croûte” (morning break) arrives like God on Earth: cheese, ham, chocolate, coffee and of course wine. This is one of the most popular breaks among vine workers. During the harvest, meals are integral to our beloved “vendangeurs”, prepared carefully by the family members they give a illuminating picture of French traditional cuisine. For lunch and dinner workers gather around the table to enjoy a well-deserved relaxation time while drinking the fruits of their labour. Those are part of the cultural experience and lead to the most bamboozling and enduring conversations. Heads in the tree and bottoms looking at the sky, mouths are also never shut in the lines. All Europe is represented and the main language is often English, a good way for Frenchies to practice their language skills and for the others to learn the basics of the French blablabla. Because the grapes are now perfectly mature, it is easy to break them with your hands so that buckets are filled in at a good pace before reaching the vats. Through rain or shine, no one will give up working or singing, which is all part of the game and the experience of the harvest . No matter what, you know the night will be unforgettable and the glass never half full.

The whole intense preparation, warm ambiance and hard work is particular to each vineyard and makes its identity, culture and blood. Every year is a new team, a new grape story, a new wine with its own character and body. Each year this is also the same storyline going on again and again to give to the wine its regularity and balance. Nature and culture mix at this precious moment that is like the wine’s birth date, celebrated every night. I find it essential to the wine signature made of human blood, dreams and fantasy.
For economic and legislation reasons, it is getting harder and harder to keep it this way. The vendanges ask for a strong human involvement that not every vineyard is ready to take so that some domaines hire workers but neither feed them nor provide them accommodations. This is especially true since the new laws, by putting to many material conditions, make it almost impossible to welcome workers. What’s more, if hand picking the grapes is certainly a proof of quality, it is also very expensive and the economic crisis is not being encouraging. For those reasons there is a proliferation of machines, which I can’t help to find sad. No matter how efficient machines are, they will never bring you the history sharing potential, the sensational cultural experience and the beefy emotional load a hand picking adventure does bring. And to me, making wine is all about it. So convince me or give it a try, enjoy the poetry and come pick with me!