La foudre s’est abattue sur le cirque de Gavarnie, dans les Hautes-Pyrénées, dans la nuit du 13 au 14 septembre. (Photo : capture d’écran webcam Gîte Oxygène Gavarnie)
Tuesday September 13th, the return of picking, with a little urgency in light of the weather forecast for heavy storms that night. The objective was to collect the Syrah from La Garrigue, the grapes which go into La Vigne Haute, my personal «cuvée mythique» of Mas Coutelou.
Last year the grapes were slightly swollen so Jeff decided to make another cuvée instead, On Peut Pas Vraiment Dire Que, and it is now 3 or 4 years since we saw LVH. It remains to be seen whether Jeff decides that the grapes were of high enough quality in 2016 for such a prestigious wine.
Syrah in La Garrigue on Saturday 10th
The grapes started a little messy requiring some careful triage both in the vineyard and cellar.
However, the quality improved after the first few cases which had been picked in a lower part of the vineyard. Certainly by the end of the day we had sorted a good quantity and quality of fruit, my shirt can certainly testify to their juiciness.
That night came the predicted thunderstorm, violent though not as long lasting as perhaps expected. I saw that some parts of the region saw over 200mm of rain, fortunately Puimisson did not reach those levels. However, there was enough to stop picking for the next few days. As I said last time wet grapes are not ideal. In addition the soft ground in the vineyards would be churned up by feet and wheels.
James working hard as usual
In a way the storm came at a good time on a personal level. I developed a mild case of bronchitis out of the blue on Tuesday which would have prevented me from working on Wednesday and Thursday. So, I have left cellar work to the experts whilst I recharge my batteries for Saturday when we may get to the Grenache in La Garrigue which looks bountiful and ripe.
Grenache in La Garrigue Sept. 10th
Meanwhile analysis of the grapes continues. There was the result of Ecocert’s evaluation showing that Mas Coutelou successfully retains its organic certification and also their analysis proving that no sulphites were or are added in the wines. And then there is the daily analysis from the oenologue which shows information such as alcohol levels, total acidity, pH levels, residual sugar etc. These help Jeff to think about how to look after the wines and which ones might blend together successfully in future.
The weather is now set fair until we finish; Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon should arrive in good conditions with a light north wind and under blue skies.
amarchinthevines 
September 15, 2016 at 1:22 pm
Hope you get well soon, Alan.
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September 15, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Thanks David
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September 16, 2016 at 11:16 am
Hope you are feeling better. Back on to the debate about wet grapes, I understood that after rain the sugar/acid balance becomes disrupted (perhaps only after a few hours?) and takes a couple of days to be restored.
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September 16, 2016 at 2:35 pm
Thank you.
Yes that is my understanding too Graham, makes sense. I did wonder about the effects on yeasts, were they washed away? However, my guru informs me that normally that would not be the case.
My original point was about the tractor/trailer which I followed that Saturday morning when we did not pick. It was full of grapes but there was a load of water leaking out of the trailer. How much of that goes into the tanks at the co-op? Even with careful hand picking there must be some effect. As you say though the physiology of the grapes must be the most important consequence.
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