The 1865 Harvest in La Romanée Excerpted and Translated From La Revue de Vin du France Should one harvest when the must has only reached 9 degrees? Why should one avoid rot yet not be afraid of it? Still relevant today, these questions were already addressed in De la Vendange (On Harvesting), a treatise published in Dijon in 1869. The author, J.-M. Duvault-Blochet, was, without question, the most important Burgundian vineyard-owner of his generation. From 1822 to 1868, he vinified in Santenay in the cellars of Passe-Temps, the wines which today belong to the Domaines de la Romanée-Conti and de la Pousse d’Or. One hundred and thirty-two years later, his successor, Aubert de Villaine, who runs the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and has always considered it as his bible, has just republished it. My harvest in La Romanée, 1865 From 1822 to 1868, J.-M. Duvault-Blochet, Burgundian vineyard-owner, put down his ideas on harvesting on paper. Some extracts: I have always started to harvest when the musts attain 13%. If, in absolutely exceptional years, like 1822,1825,1834,1842,1858,1864,1865 and 1868, one can classify the quality of the wines according to the alcohol content of the musts – (which should, once and for all, prove the wisdom of never starting to harvest too early), I would not want to conclude therefore that one should take the risk of jeopardizing the product of the harvest in the hope of being exceptionally fortunate, when in fact one already knows that one can make a perfectly good wine. Besides, I believe that it is in everyone’s interest that I recount what I have observed in the past and what I continue to observe on a day to day basis concerning wines whose musts have gone beyond 14.75%, 15% to 15.5% and all the way up to 16% without any rotten grapes. At first, they seem to be incontestably superior – in terms of fullness, in terms of color, in terms of vinosity, smoothness and mellowness; but fermentation takes so long that, in spite of taking all possible precautions, some are so rich and so high in alcohol, that they become vinous and powerful to the point of detracting from their charm, finesse and bouquet. Then one has to wait too long for the wines to attain the supple silkiness so loved by true gourmets. (…) Undoubtedly, above 13.75%, sometimes wine can be tainted with a little taste of rot even if none of the grapes were actually rotten. It is no less certain that at 13% to 13.5%, wines, while less robust, less red in color and lower in alcohol, are ready to drink sooner, are easier to drink and one can drink more of them. Isn’t it then preferable and reasonable to start harvesting as soon the must has reached 13% rather than wait and thus expose oneself to any possible negative outcomes? Isn’t that throwing away the bird in the hand, for the bird in the bush? Since September 21, 1859, this has been my official policy at my estate in Santenay where it is even posted in my office. (…) If because of the influence of the seasons, heat and the time it takes to harvest a certain amount of vines in various climates the harvest is delayed and by chance, I have had the good fortune to harvest grapes which have reached an unexpected degree of ripeness, (a degree, by the way, unheard of before 1865) - and at the same time the misfortune of losing about thirty barrels of wine, either by marauders, grape thieves, birds or reduction in the size of the grapes caused by the sun and atmospheric influences - it would not be because I had desired it, but because of the factors I have just listed. Because as many times as it has happened, in spite of my stated principles, each time I have started to harvest as soon as the must reached 13%. I will continue to let this degree guide me in the future – as often as I can - depending on the particular climatic conditions of the seasons and the health and appearance of the grapes. But I will not cease to state and restate: avoid rot, without, however, developing a phobia about it, because in tiny quantities, I have noticed it softens the acidity of mediocre wines. If in people a good constitution, (if one doesn’t abuse it), is the foundation of one’s creativity, one’s strength and one’s longevity, the same goes for wines and their basic constituents, for they are what gives a wine its charm, its liveliness and its longevity. They are also responsible for the effect that the wines have on their drinkers, not only on their health, but also on their faculties. The ex-King of Prussia’s doctor (who should know something about the matter since his Majestic Sovereign was such as distinguished consumer of the liquid) said so truthfully, “People have searched in vain for the philosopher’s stone to turn everything into gold when all along it was, at least in terms of human health and conversation, to be found in drinking small quantities of wine because it lights a little fire in the stomach to help with digestion; to drink too much would light a blazing furnace that would leave too much residue)”. (…) It is extremely important to let grapes ripen fully before harvesting them in order to make healthier, more solid and nourishing wines; because if the grapes are picked unripe, the wine will contain so much tartaric acid that it will have a purgative effect on the drinker. In 1845, the lower quality wines were so bad and so green that a worker in the village of Nuits was telling me, speaking of the wines that he and the other workers who (if my memory does not deceive me) worked on the railroad in Nuits, -- “I don’t know what they are putting into the wine that they serve here, but they really shouldn’t be drugging the wine of us workers who already have such a hard time, it’s killing us, because the more you drink the more your stomach aches, it’s so bad sometimes that it deals us three or four bad turns a day. -- “Are you drinking the new 1845 wines?” -- “Indeed, yes, Sir, I can’t afford to drink old wines, neither can my friends.” -- “Well, I told him, stop drinking that wine and you won’t have any more stomach aches, it contains so much cream of tartar that it acts as a purgative.” -- “But then what will we drink, Sir?” -- “Water with a bit of eau-de-vie or else have a demi-tasse of coffee and you’ll feel fine.” -- “I’ll try it, Sir” And so the worker that I met on the road from Nuits to Vosne left me as I turned left towards Vosne. I never saw him again to be able to ask him if he had followed my advice. If I mention this little story, it’s because I believe that facts make more of an impression than theories: and I earnestly call upon all vineyard owners to not forget this meeting with my worker from Nuits, so that they will try to make healthy and nourishing wines from ripe grapes instead of acidic, thin wines which can even be purgative when the must is only at 9 or 9.5%.”
Geeze, that guy sure is chatty.
he's under arrest for being a gasbag. |