Around the beginning of October the picking of the grape starts in the Cognac region of France.

This means that it is one of the busiest periods here at Chais du Rouissoir. Some of the 11 varieties of grapes that are being picked this week are Merlot which will go to make Pineau Red and Red Vin de Pays - Table wine, Cabernet Sauvignon for for Rosé Vin de Pays and Ugni (Noble in Latin) Blanc, a white grape which will go on to produce our Cognac.

If any of you wondered whether these grapes can be eaten; well they are just wonderful. They are sweet and full of juice albeit that the skin is much thicker than desert grapes.

The grapes we grow here are generally smaller than desert grapes.  

Above, one can see the Gregoire grape harvester that we use to harvest. This machine has been bought by me and 4 other local producers. As our various grapes mature at different times and that the grape harvest, or Vendange as it is called here, can last up to 6 or 8 weeks, depending on the weather, this means that, as I only need this machine for a total of seven days during that period, I am sure to have access to the machine when I need it.  It has been known for us to harvest right up to the end of October and even the begining of November.  

The Gregoire is almost 12 feet tall and straddles the long rows of vines. It travels at around 6 miles per hour and vibrates the plants which forces to individual grapes to fall into trough. From here they are raised into a hopper which is emptied at the end of each run.

Below is a close up of the Gregoire coming to the end of a row of vines. Next to it is the machine unloading the grapes into a trailer which will then be taken for the grapes to be crushed for their juice.

Below, the Gregoire is staring a new row.

Below can be seen a before and after shot of a section of Merlot vine which shows clearly that the plant has been picked clean of grapes leaving just the stalks.  

Below one can see the grapes in the trailer ready for transport to be crushed for their juice.  

Around 150 metric tons of grapes will have been picked from all the vines on the various parcels of land that make up our vineyard.  As approximately 80% of the grape is made up of juice, our crop this year will produce approximately 120,000 litres of juice.

Once the grapes have been picked, be-it the red or white varieties, they are taken back to the vineyard's main buildings. Some of the grapes will then be sent to a local cooperative where it will be made into "Vin de Pays" or table wine. The rest will be processed at the vineyard.

Like the grape harvester, four other local producers and us at the Chais du Rouissoir have clubbed together to buy a pair of mobile grape crushers which we transport from one farm to the other. Below are picture of these.

Today it is our turn with the crushers. Grapes arrive from the harvester and are transferred to the red hopper that feeds the crusher.

The grapes (and the juice that has already been extracted during the harvest) are then fed into the crusher by means of a screw mechanism. Some leaves and stalks do get harvested as well as the grapes but they don't affect the juicing process.

A supervisor - left -, however, checks for larger pieces of vine wood that have been harvested. These are discarded prior to the fruit being transferred to the crusher. It's called a crusher but the juice is extracted by squeezing the fruit under pressure in a fine net. The juice then falls into a hopper - below - at the bottom of the crusher whist the pressed fruit together with leaves and stalks are then transfered to another hopper ready to be transported to a local facility that will further process this into industrial alcohol.

The juice having been squeezed from the fruit and which is used for either white wine or cognac is now transferred to large 5,000 to 7,000 litre vats that sit there, on the land, just waiting for this time of the year. We, at Chai de Rouissoir, have 8 outdoor tanks - shown below - as well as 8 tanks within the winery buildings attached to the vineyards.

This initial transfer is for 1 to 2 hours to allow for any sediment to settle at the bottom of the tank. Once clarified, the clear liquid is once again transferred to clean tanks. These tanks are inside and, once there, the juice will be allowed to turn into wine. The fermentation process takes 4 to 5 days whilst the sugar turns to alcohol. Once all the sugar has been turned into alcohol, the fermentation process comes to an end and the wine is then allowed to mature slowly.

The fruit and juice is pumped into vats for the initial 24 hours of fermentation. Having added a little yeast, the skin on the fruit will release its colour. In the collage below pic. 1 is one of the stainless steel vats used by us. Pic. 2 is a set of temperature control pipes inserted into vats to either cool down or warm up the fruit. Pic. 3 is Hugues controlling the flow of the fruit into the red wine vat. Pic. 4 is a view of the vat showing the fruit. Pic. 5 is a shot of 2 of the GRP tanks we also use.

Although some red wine is produced by maturing the wine in oak casks, we at Chai de Rouissoir prefer the natural flavour of wine and allow our wine to mature in the large vats. The maturing process in oak vats gives the added oak flavours that some people like. We satisfy the needs of consumers who are after the true flavour of the grapes we use

October is also the time of the year when the local Pineau des Charentes fortified wine is produced. Pineau is made by mixing 1 year old Cognac with fresh Grape Juice.  The cognac used is last year's production and therefore still very strong.  The grape juice, of course, has to be less than one day old in order that it has not yet started fermenting on its way to being wine. 30% cognac to 70% juice are mixed together prior to being placed into oak vats for a minimum of three years.

The photograph shown below is an interesting photograph as it is that of young cognac being pumped into a stainless steel vat prior to being added to the grape juice. The stainless steel sides act as a mirror creating a beautiful pattern.