Harvesting by headlamp
Why do some estates choose to harvest at night? In Languedoc, Provence and Savoie, winegrowers explain why they choose to harvest at night.
It's five o'clock in the morning. The temperature began to drop three hours ago, gradually blurring the memory of a day crushed by the summer sun and whipped by the winds that the Mediterranean climate knows how to shape.In the still deep night, the Montagne d'Alaric, the highest point of the Corbières massif, comes into view. At its foot, along the terraces, valleys and hillsides, dozens of headlamps are waving like fireflies.
A classic harvest day begins at Château La Baronne, in Moux. Since 2022, Anne and Jean Lignères have decided to harvest their 100 hectares of vines at night. "For the human side," explains Jean Lignères, winemaker and village doctor from father to son. "Harvesting at night allows us to escape the heat."
The loyal team of thirty-five seasonal workers, known locally as "la colle", set off, pruning shears in hand, one or two hours before dawn. two hours before dawn and finish by lunchtime, with exchanges in Spanish, Portuguese and French.We'd never go back, it's become almost a social acquis for them," smiles Jean Lignères. Why risk accidents when you can shift the timetable without losing efficiency?"
Ray picking
Last year, particularly in the Champagne region, several grape-pickers died during the season due to the high temperatures. Throughout the vineyards, climate change and rising temperatures bring forward the start of the harvest each year. At Château La Baronne, they start in the middle of August, twenty days earlier than ten years ago - and not just because of the switch to biodynamic viticulture in 2012, whose sprays are said to bring the grapes to full ripeness more quickly.
A year before taking the plunge, Anne and Jean Lignères observed night harvests by other winemakers during a trip to Israel, and began to think. Is it feasible here? On their return, an occasional winegrower and night-hiker finally convinced them: "Take 200 lumens, it's perfect," she advised. In the process, Jean picked up thirty-five headlamps from a Decathlon department.
The grapes, too, benefit from the mild night air. They arrive cooler in the cellar, avoiding the need for energy- and cost-intensive cooling systems. Fermentation can start at an ideal temperature, between 15 and 21°C. This is even easier if the indigenous yeasts favored by the estate, present in part on the skin of the grapes, have not been attacked by a journey at over 30°C.
Fresh as rosé
In a completely different setting, Provence is also concerned with grape freshness. A commercial obsession: the paleness of its rosé, the shade preferred by consumers. Harvesting at night is widespread. " Other rosé-producing regions have taken their inspiration from us," notes Valérie Rousselle, owner of 120-hectare Château Roubine, one of the first to take the plunge in 1995.
Every year, the headlights of her harvesting machines pass over the rows of vines from 2 to 6 a.m. to prevent the grapes destined for rosé from taking on too much color. Under the effect of heat, the skin of red grapes tends to spread its pigments more to the white flesh," sums up Valérie Rousselle. Harvesting at night is a trick that reduces the need for chemical color correction later on (through the use of sulfur and other additives, editor's note)." For red wines, whose grapes ripen later in the season, the machines once again expose their hoods to the sun. The color factor no longer matters.
Dyonisiac festival
Change of scale. Back to headlamps, screwed on a dozen heads, double the number of arms mobilized for 25 ares. In Savoie, near Lac du Bourget, Pierre Grobon has chosen to harvest the first vintage of his career at night in 2022. Team well-being? Serene fermentation? Preserved aromas? Although the advantages became clearer, initially it was just a question of scheduling. "Launching my own business doesn't allow me to make a living from it right from the start. The first year, I was picking during the day on another estate, so I had to harvest my plot at night", explains the winemaker.
His friends and family arrive at 2am to help him. A glass of white wine to welcome the guests set off a festive mood, helped by the euphoria of tiredness. "It was joyful and highly motivating. We finished just before sunrise over a génépi, then everyone went to bed." The following year, the gang asked for another night of harvesting.
