THE ‘DOMAINE DE LA NORIA GRAPE HARVEST’ PACKAGE.

IN SEPTEMBER, COME AND DISCOVER THE GRAPE HARVEST AMONG THE VINES OF ‘DOMAINE DE LA NORIA’ :
At Domaine de la Noria, we specialise in wine tourism, and September is the perfect time to discover the life and work of the vine grower.
All through September, in addition to our standard accommodation, we are offering the following as part of the grape harvest package:
- the opportunity to actually participate in the vintage, , helping us to hand harvest the grapes for approximately two hours early in the morning (even though you are on holiday!) and to transport the grapes to the winery : secateurs, bucket and breakfast in the vineyard all provided.
- you will also have the opportunity to see the mechanical grape harvester in action, and to understand the technical advantages associated with this method of harvesting.
- a visit to the winery to experience the frenetic activity of the vintage in full swing : the endless to-ing and fro-ing of the tractors, the traceability controls, the maturity testing, the quality control cabin, the weigh stations, the crushing and the pressing, and the continuous monitoring and tasting of the fermenting grape musts, and finally, the rigourous cleaning of the equipment and reception areas at the end of each day.
- a private tasting in the winery cellar
- a visit to the Chateau de Gicon and the surrounding vineyards at the end of the day… with the sun setting over the Cévennes mountains and a glorious, unspoilt view across the Rhône Valley.

For the last few decades, the first week of September has heralded the start of the grape harvest in the village of Chusclan, and the surrounding areas of the southern ‘Côtes du Rhône’.

Imagine the efforts of a whole year only being rewarded at the very last minute, in three weeks of total madness!
You have to understand that the quality of these wines, blended from several different grape varieties (as decreed by the Cotes du Rhone appellation) starts, first and foremost, with the ripeness of each variety on the day it is harvested. But it is not only the maturity of the fruit which contributes to the quality, but the soil on which each vine is planted, the age of the vine, its resistance to drought, the amount of fruit that it will yield on ‘D-day’, the flavour of its berries…….
From this point onwards, the winemaking will be fundamental, but in the beginning, it is the quality of the raw material that really matters.

This is the passion for the vines.
This is what it means to feel emotion for your land .

Each week during August, berry samples are taken from the same plots of land to chart the progress of the grapes towards maturity. This analysis makes it possible to predict the starting date of the vintage.
Although, in general, the starting date of the vintage never changes by more than a week from one year to the next.
However, the information collected is crucial for the harvesting decisions relating to the individual grape varieties and vineyard areas
No two years are ever the same…………… and that is all part of the fun!
‘Vintage’
no doubt you recognise this term and you know that it can apply to wines that are both exceptional and average. It is a broad annual standard which places the emphasis on the weather conditions, and which awards a regional quality scale, often based on the average ageing potential of the whole appellation.
Yet certain vintages are memorable from a qualitative and organoleptic point of view, without any scientific explanation. Mother Nature’s secret, perhaps?
Vintages of exceptional quality are, as the name implies, exceptional: a real gift from the Gods!
But true lasting quality is the ability to obtain the best out of every year – even the bad years! Indeed, it would be wrong not too acknowledge all the extra effort that is required in rainy vintages, the painstaking selection processes required in abundant vintages, the prolonged skin contact followed by careful blending in those vintages lacking in colour, the work in cellar to control the fermentation temperatures, the extra pump overs, all the efforts to compensate for the variations in the vintage conditions from one year to another.
A good vine grower is judged on ten, twenty, fifty years of consistent quality…..do not judge too hastily!

The grape varieties grown at DOMAINE DE LA NORIA are typical of the southern ‘Cotes du Rhone’.

WHITE AOC COTES DU RHONE
GRAPE VARIETIES:
White Grenache, Marsanne, Viognier, White Clairette.
The white grapes are all machine harvested – but only in the morning!
The first few days of the harvest are dedicated to picking the Viognier grapes, followed by White Grenache.
With potential alcohols already reaching between 13 and 14%, the grapes are rushed to the winery to be pressed and vinified at low temperatures.
The winemaker will generally decide to harvest the Marsanne about half way through the vintage, at approx. 12.5% potential alcohol.
The Marsanne is either vinified separately, or sometimes combined with Roussanne grapes in the Chusclan cellars.
The Clairette Blanche is picked in the last week of harvest, at about 12%, and taken to our partner winery in Laudun to be vinified.

RED AND ROSÉ AOC COTES DU RHONE CHUSCLAN
GRAPE VARIETIES : : Black Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan, Counoise, Camarèse, Pink Clairette.

In a large part of our vineyards, the vines have been trained along wires in order to facilitate the mechanical harvesting of certain red varieties – Syrah and Grenache in particular. One of the main advantages of machine harvesting is the ability to harvest large quantities of grapes at optimum ripeness, and at speed, especially if the weather conditions should start to deteriorate Another advantage of training the vines along the wires is that they provide additional support for a larger leaf canopy, improving the level of photosynthesis and the quality of the grapes.
The grass growing between the rows of vines aids the stability of the soil under the passing machinery.
In a small part of our vineyards, the older parts, you will find the traditional bush vines: incompatible with the mechanical harvester, these vineyards are harvested by hand by our family.
Similarly, certain grape varieties which lend themselves badly to mechanical harvesting due to the brittle nature of their canes are also harvested by hand: Carignan, Counoise, Pink Clairette.
Finally, the grapes destined for ‘carbonic maceration’, a winemaking technique often favoured by our English customers, must also be harvested by hand.
The grapes are harvested with potential alcohols between 12 – 15%, depending on the grape variety.

RED VINS DE PAYS
GRAPE VARIETIES : Black grenache, Syrah, Carignan tampranillos, chenançon.
. The harvesting of these red grapes is manual or mechanical.
The traceability system for each vineyard parcel is all-embracing, as are the quality controls related to the diversity of the local soils or ‘terroirs’:
GENETS, GICON, LES GRANGES, EXCELLENCE, MONTICAULT, VALLESCURE, AND DOMAINES (including, of course, LE DOMAINE DE LA NORIA)…