If you are in the midst of the serious wine growing regions of Bordeaux at the moment you will likely notice that the vineyards are a hive of activity – it’s that time of year when the annual grape harvest is underway. Slightly further up the Atlantic coast in a small hamlet last weekend, an equally momentous grape harvest took place.
We were at the home of our American friend, Jeff, who bought his house back in the spring. He is now very much “at home”, although I might add he is not in total comfort yet as there are still renovations and refurbishment underway. However, that did not deter his inherited grapes from growing happily all summer and we knew a while ago that he was going to be in for a bumper crop. Neighbours started to impart local knowledge and plenty of advice and helping hands were on offer for when things needed to be done! When pineau production started all sorts of people came past to gather under the 100 year-old trellised vine.
Sunday was the chosen day, one villager placed bunting up around Jeff’s house to mark the momentous occasion. It was rumoured that it was more then 10 years since the house’s grapes had been properly harvested.
Picking began early in the morning with the green variety. Everything was to be made into the local much sought after aperitif, Pineau des Charentes, which is a made from grape juice and Eau de Vie. It was decided that there would be no wine this year.
On hand to oversee things was Louis, who that same day was celebrating his 89th birthday.
Louis told us he had seen many vintages from Jeff’s property over the years, and he was keen to make sure that we started with the green grapes as this produces the best Pineau des Charentes. If the harvest went to plan we would then make Rosé, and then deep red Pineau from the darkest grapes.
Although Louis might have been one year shy of his 90th birthday it certainly wasn’t going to stand in the way of him climbing a ladder and picking fruit.
The white grapes were carefully sorted, their stalks removed, a fiddly and time-consuming job for both large and small fingers. Jeff had purchased a small press and by mid morning the first juices began to trickle out.
It looked more like filthy dishwater!
As the hours rolled on this was followed by the red grapes, ending with the deepest darkest coloured fruit. The first taste of each juice was sampled, deliciously different from anything bought in a health shop, although Louis and his compatriots warned us not to imbibe more than a few mouthfuls – too much of this pure unpasteurised, untreated juice and the consequences can be quite disastrous and entail much use of a small room with plumbing. Louis and Didier recounted with much glee the stories from their childhoods when they learnt the truth about grape juice – and tricks they had played over the years on unsuspecting newcomers! We felt honoured (and rather relieved) that they warned us!
By the afternoon the press had been well and truly christened and no longer looked quite so new. Fingers were stained a deep purple as barrow after barrow was picked and put into the press. This was messy work not for the faint hearted. All day long we gleaned snippets of local knowledge from the villagers. This mosaic-tiled table had been made by Louis himself more then 40 years ago for the then owners of Jeff’s property.
At around 4pm, the traditional hour for goûter, (a tea time snack mostly associated with children), we all stopped for a well earned break. Hetty had baked a cake for Louis for his birthday, complete with candles, although not 89 of them! An English gesture during a very French day.
Then work resumed once more.
Earlier in the week Roddy had made some planked tops to make simple trestle tables and as the evening started to draw in we moved these out into the garden and started to think about dinner. This was going to be a celebration, shared by everyone who had helped with the harvest. The barbecue was lit, smells of rosemary and roasting lamb and chicken slowly drifted towards those still working with the grapes.
Two large touques were filled with the grape juice to which eau de vie was added at a ratio of two litres of the strong stuff to ten of the juice. Note that at this point I should add that it is practically impossible to buy eau de vie in a shop; this is where it is handy to have made local French friends, perhaps someone who knows somebody who knows someone else who can supply some, bien sûr! The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, it is actually illegal to make eau de vie at home, though a blind eye is turned to the practice when it is clearly intended to be used for pineau, especially when as a gendarme one may actually help harvest. Secondly, it is generally only the older generations that still cultivate grapes for domestic consumption. The young have no time or inclination in this mad busy world to do something that is of yesteryear, especially when a bottle can be bought at any supermarket for next to nothing.
The touques are then left for a year in a cool dark place before bottling can commence. It is typical practice to celebrate a harvest with a bottle from the last year’s vintage.
When all was said and done, and the clean-up finished, champagne glasses were filled and we all raised a toast to this year’s harvest, aptly named the ‘Louis Vintage’. This time next year we would be able to sample it, but until then we just had to be patient.
Now our thoughts turned to food, as we were all starving. Music filled the air
and dinner was served. We started with half a melon, filled (for the adults) with a plentiful dose of (what else but) Pineau; melon served this way is a local speciality.
This was followed by a barbecued leg of lamb – cooked to utter perfection, I might add, by Jeff. Barbecued chicken, potatoes lyonnaise, fresh salad, and a local dish that seemd to be a variation of ratatouille which included potatoes and a thick cheese topping. There were glasses of full-bodied red wine, giggling children and plenty of hearty conversation, much of it interspersed with local Charentais patois.
As darkness started to fall, we moved onto dessert. It had been a long but very fulfilling day, and another fabulous and very new experience in our French year.
Our French Oasis 
Charming!
It was indeed!
A lovely way to spend the day…yes hard work but the knowledge and bits of lore are priceless …
everyone is included and helps to bring in the special Louis Vintage harvest ….
Now this is the way to live…..
My thoughts too – a special time of year in the country, and hopefully something Louis enjoyed, too!
Thank you for sharing this story. Such a nice way to start a busy Friday at work.
My pleasure, Wynn – apologies for the late reply XX
I really love to hear your stories about days like this that can only happen in France and your photos make it feel that I am part of it although so far away! Thank you so very much!!
Oh Margeret, that is wholly my intention, to share our life here, warts and all. Hopefully in amongst the grapes there were not too many warts, though!
What a wonderful story and a marvelous day!! Thank you for taking us along on a new adventure. I’ll bet the meal was fantastic after a hard day’s work.
It was indeed, a collection of dishes from everyone, and something different each time. I can still taste the lamb, I’m afraid to say 😦
Thank you for this lovely story. I am in love with Louis!
He is the most amazing man. I sincerely hope to see more of him in the months to come. Such an old-fashioned gentleman with very twinkly eyes!
Such an interesting post Susan, and so nice to see neighbours helping one another. It looks like a good day for all concerned! xxx
Oh Janet, everyone of my readers would have had a ball – it was a very entertaining day – lots to learn, too. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is straight out of the Book of Olden Times when Things were as they Should Be! Neighbourly help and friendship, generous cooking with help, ditto for harvesting, making music and song, drinking and eating, much tasting, but also blisters at the hands and possibly long-term-stained fingers….. aaaah, the joy!
You made this a Day of Happiness and Joy for us – thank you so much. I very much enjoyed seeing your family again on this occasion (especially Roddy was becoming an article of rare sightings) and VERY BEST wishes to the girls, boys and beasts….. Kisses to whom so wishes 🙂 (slightly lemony tasting from having eaten fish – overlaid with the rich aroma of a classic Italian Espresso! – Put that machine away Kiki, you can’t do it!)
And huge kisses your way too, slightly fuelled by a glass of a very nice, robust red from Bordeaux! Wish you were closer to share it with me. xx
If I let my husband read this, we will be moving to France. It certainly was a glorious day. You need to make this post into a little book for your friend.
It was the most wonderful day and fabulous to do something totally new, I love getting back to basics. xx
Love this! The work, fellowship, food, music and wine…I miss community like this. How special for all of you, and great memories made!
It was a very special day, fabulous to see young and old all helping together and then eating together, that for me is what is so special. xx
What a fabulous blog post! A delight as usual to read about your family and your grape harvest! Congratulations to Jeff and hopefully you don’t get too impatient waiting to sample it! A very good weekend to you all!
We will have to wait a year, but I am sure it will be worth it! xx
Oh what fun it would have been to experience this! How lucky you are to be in a beautiful place that opens the door to great adventure.
I quite agree, one of the many things I love about living here, the opportunities to get back to basics xx
What a wonderful experience. Each time I now see or taste Pineau, I will think of your day. It was also a pleasure to see everyone in the family, well almost everyone. Millie will be having her own exciting experiences at school. I’m off to concentrate on getting organized for our next adventure, which is almost about to begin.
Ali xx
Actually Millie was with us in the morning but just never quite got near a photo! She had to return to Poitiers before dinner, but we see her every weekend which is fabulous. Your adventures have begun I think, where are you, will we see you ? xx
I could smell the juice from the press! Certainly a great day, but a special tip of the hat to those photos!
Thanks so much Ann, I always say photos are easy when the subject is so good and this was one fabulous day. xx
I loved this post and am so glad you showed photos of the process, in addition to the narrative. I almost felt like I was there.
Thanks so much, it was such a fabulous day, I was snapping away non stop! xx
So wonderful to taste this kind of life. A real delight. Thank you so much for sharing it with us, Susan!
Thanks Adelia, it was a real treat to be able to help and share this day with Jeff xx
Lovely post Susan …I really enjoyed reading it.
Thanks so much Denise xx
Very cool topic and thank you very much
ُEkramy
I will remind you of the beginning of the school year if you like shopping
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Thank you xx
Delightful. ……it is as if I was there….and I sure wish I was. ….
It was a day I will certainly never forget xx
Gosh that is real French Life. What a lot of fun you all have. Love the musician.
We are really lucky, but I think one makes one’s own fun, I just love doing anything unusual like this! xx
Oh, that sounds just wonderful, Susan! Thanks, as always, for your lovely account of your life in that wonderful part of France. A wee tinge of envy from me, but then again, our days are getting warmer… 🙂
So I have a wee tinge of envy for you too, as you are now heading into summer. But it is still warm here so I can’t complain! xx
Interesting note about not drinking too much of the pressed wine juice I had a similar experience in France a few years ago eating figs off the tree, no one warned me, awful!!!
Ha ha, I limit myself to 6 or 7 figs a day, but it is tempting to eat a whole lot more! xx
I swear I’ll take this post to my GP (General Practitioner – Family Doctor in Australia) and show him Louis doing ‘Louis things’ at 89! Being an Egyptian Muslim he kind’of does not ‘get’ my having a glass or two of wine with lunch or dinner 🙂 ! Hugely fun early autumnal send !!!
Yes do, Louis certainly has a glass or two at lunch and dinner every single day. He is incredible, quite an inspiration. xx
So beautiful to see the many hands of many generations and many backgrounds working together. Thank you for sharing this lovely day.
Oh I totally agree, that was one of the most special parts for me, the very old and the quite young all joining in together, that is what life should be all about xx
My husband’s Italian grandmother used to make eau de vie. We might even still have some in the back of the cupboard! Your day reminded me, too, of picking olives at a friend’s place. Only one tree but hours of fun.
I remember picking our olives in New Zealand, we had two enormous trees and it was quite an occasion over several days, we got many litres of oil, incredibly exciting. xx
Thank you so much for sharing this enriching experience with us. My morning just became better.
Thanks so much, it was a very special day xx
How wonderful to be part of that long tradition.
It really was and to have old and young all joining in together, a very special day xx
Utterly charming. Luckies!
Thanks so much xx
I’m so happy to hear that Jeff has found a new crowd to share his culinary magic with. We had our 20 years with him (seemingly far too short in retrospect!) As I have said to many a new neighbor of his, never refuse a dinner invitation. Take good care, we’ll be there soon.
Hi, his cooking is incredible, but best of all, he takes our children into the kitchen, whichever ones happen to be around at the time and he always teaches them something new, they love it. I cannot wait until his house is finished and I know he cannot wait until his kitchen is fully operational. We are very fortunate to have him not too far away, a great addition to our lives xx