Who said Brittany wasn’t a wine region? There are vines – certainly not many -, particularly on the slopes of Mont Garrot, in Saint-Suliac, in Ille-et-Vilaine. This Saturday, September 28, on the banks of the Rance, in front of a postcard landscape, around forty amateur winegrowers are bent over, small pruning shears in hand. All members of the Les vignerons de Garo association, they harvest their rows of black grapes, the Rondo grape variety.
Martin Duffaut
The precious bunches are then placed in baskets, which are themselves emptied into large black bins. Two rows of vines are enough this year to fill a bin, a sign of a good harvest. New arrival in the association, Emmanuelle makes her first harvest. And she doesn’t deprive herself of tasting: “I have to do a quality testshe laughs, it’s a bunch harvested, a grape eaten”. The bins are then all taken on board, heading to the association’s cellar.
Martin Duffaut
Arriving at the cellar, the volunteers unload the bins, all of which are waiting in line to pass onto Jean-Yves’ scales. This retiree adjusts his weights, and finds the right weight for each bin, on average around forty kilos. The final weight of the annual harvest is awaited by everyone, since, it is a ritual, everyone has their own prediction. And for the winner, a good bottle – of wine obviously.
Martin Duffaut
The bins are then emptied into a destemmer, which separates the stalk from the rest of the bunch. Only the juice and the grape skins are kept, which are then poured together into a vat, where they will macerate for a few days under daily supervision. Then after several other stages and additions, and several months of rest in oak barrels – a new acquisition dating from last year, the wine will be bottled, before being tasted next year during the next harvest.
