Harvest is winding down

There is less and less activity in the vineyards out back as the days go by. Most of the grapes are gone. I noticed on Friday that one particular plot of "late harvest" grapes had been picked. So ends another harvest season. I imagine that the grapes have been pressed and the juice is starting to ferment in big tanks in the wineries around us.

These parcels have all been harvested. Soon the leaves will turn golden and fall to the ground.

In the coming weeks, some of the young juice will be sold as bernache, a local name for the unfiltered juice as it begins to ferment. It's a very sweet, yeasty, and slightly alcoholic beverage that is reputed for having digestive effects similar to prune juice. Then, later in November, the "new" wines will show up in the markets. In Beaujolais they're called vins nouveaux; in our region the young wine is released as Touraine Primeur. The fall season is in full swing.