the essential
While he started harvesting this Tuesday, Thierry Calbo, a winegrower in the commune of Espiens, is organizing a harvest festival on his estate on Friday evening.
It is called the harvest festival, or the ban des vendanges. It is a popular tradition that dates back to Ancient Rome (in honor of the gods Jupiter and Venus). In Albret, it recalls the Buzet wine festival that was held in the summer in Nérac. But, like this event, this tradition has been somewhat lost over time. The Cave des Vignerons still practices it, but in a small committee, between farmers and employees.
Thierry Calbo, since he left UPSA to set up his winery on the family lands of Espiens, has always wanted to bring conviviality to his place of production. In addition to the Dimanches aux Vignobles, he used to organize festive events on his estate in May or June in previous years. Alas, in 2024, the weather did not help him.
Guinguette atmosphere and spit-roasted pork
And it may well be this climatic “incident” that will be the cause of the return of the grape harvest festival in Albret. Because the winegrower did not want to abandon these pleasant evenings around wine.
The meeting is scheduled for this Friday, September 20, from 7 p.m., in the middle of the vineyards of the Calbo estate. And what’s more, the weather should be on our side! A large stage will be set up at the edge of the rows of vines, at the entrance to the estate, where the Rockfêlés – friends of Thierry Calbo – will provide musical entertainment. Around it, two food trucks will treat participants with a spit-roasted pig and braised ham. Marquees will be set up in case of unpleasant weather surprises. Fairy lights will transform the wine estate, for one evening, into a real guinguette.
And, of course, the bottles from the local producer will be there. White (dry or sweet), rosé, red (merlot, cabernet-sauvignon, mixed)… Thierry Calbo will be delighted to show off his expertise and his entire range of wines. And for wine lovers, it will be an opportunity to score some great deals…
To facilitate the organization of the evening by the winemaker, it is preferable to book (0624768153). Access to this harvest festival requires a pass sold for five euros, which also entitles you to a glass of wine.
The Calbo estate is not going to wait until Friday to get moving. Because since Tuesday, the harvest has started. “The white has come in, we are tackling the rosé now. We should finish harvesting everything in four weeks.” Its vines were badly hit in the spring by rain leading to a phenomenon of coulure (asphyxiation of the grapes), an estimated 30% loss. But Thierry Calbo appreciated the mild summer and the “few saving rains in recent days which have made the berry swell”. This will not bring back the grapes lost in the spring, but “it limits the damage”.
A recognized domain
This year is symbolic for the estate. In addition to the first edition of this harvest festival, the estate is celebrating ten years since the first winemaking by Thierry Calbo, the former UPSA executive who has returned to his land. 10 hectares where we find some of the vines planted by his father in 1952! The quality of the grapes that grow in the place called Saint-Julien d’Espiens is no longer in doubt. The oldest still remember this excellent chasselas produced on its perfectly exposed hillsides.
There will certainly be no shortage of topics to discuss on Friday evening in the middle of the vineyards, where the grape harvest festival will find a second lease of life.
Thierry Calbo not spared
In the ten years since he converted to viticulture, Thierry Calbo has noted, like all his colleagues, the decrease in wine consumption in France. “Particularly over the last two or three years,” he says. Despite everything, he manages to sell the majority of his production.
But he noted changes in French consumption. “White and rosé wines are more successful than red wine. And among the latter, consumers are looking for a fruitier, less alcoholic wine. So we are thinking about these new trends and adapting to them. But without abandoning our identity wines.”
Faced with an increasingly changeable climate, more virulent mildew and new demand, Thierry Calbo is thinking. Pulling up exposed plots, producing more whites and rosés… French vines are at a turning point, in Espiens as elsewhere.
