Fruit of labour

Wine grape harvesting was done by hand till advances in technology enabled machine-harvesting to increase the harvest speeds by up to 100 times

We know that wine is most commonly made from grapes, that grapes are the fruit of the common grape vine (scientific name: vitis vinifera), and that wine grapes differ from table grapes in terms of sugar-acid balance and flavour characteristics.

The uninitiated would be amazed to know that there are between 5,000 and 10,000 varieties of vitis vinifera — 1,368 have been described in a recent book co-authored by British Master of Wine Jancis Robinson — but only a few are used to make wine in commercial quantities. Of these, about 30 varietals make up 90 per cent of the wines commonly available worldwide.

Grapes can be cultivated either as a free-standing bush or trained on trellises in vineyards — the science of cultivating grapes is called viticulture, which includes the whole nine yards: determining planting layouts and training methods, managing the vineyards (irrigation, fertilisers, pests and diseases), as well as pruning and harvesting of grapes. Grapes are normally harvested once a year — in the autumn in low temperate climatic zones and pre-summer in warmer tropical places like India, Thailand and Brazil.

Wines made from really old vines may have the term vieilles vignes (‘old vines’, in French) on the label

Harvesting was done by hand till advances in technology enabled machine-harvesting to increase the harvest speeds by up to 100 times (with concomitant cost savings). Of course, the vineyards have to be planted to suit the mechanical harvesters. So, the vineyards with those long straight rows are harvested by machines.

Some vineyards continue to be hand-harvested: vineyards in hilly terrains, estates where the quality of the wine justifies the labour cost, or wines where hand-harvesting is necessary (Sauternes, Ice Wines). In India, all grapes are still harvested by hand as the small size of plots does not justify the high capital costs of replanting vineyards and machine harvesters.

Grape vines take between three and five years to start producing usable grapes and can last for about 50 to 100 years — although most vineyards replant sections after 20 to 40 years. In Europe, most vineyards were wiped out by Phylloxera in the late 1800s, and so there are no vineyards over 100 years of age — the oldest grape vine I’ve been able to trace is a 450-year-old single trunk of Zametovka (a redgrape) in the town of Maribor, Slovenia (Eastern Europe) that is said to still bear fruit! Now that’s longevity for you.

While yields reduce over time, grape quality improves, so some producers seek out parcels of old vines to produce their premium wines — this is still possible in areas that escaped Phylloxera: New Zealand, Australia, South America, South Africa, parts of Europe and the Napa Valley of California.

Wines made from really old vines may have the term vieilles vignes (“old vines”, in French) on the label. 

Some of the wineries making wines from old vines include Boekenhoutskloof (South Africa), Bibi Graetz (Italy), Chateau de Saint Cosme (France), Tahblik (Australia), and St Urbans-Hof (Germany).

My favourite old vine wine: Chateau de Saint Cosme Gigondas, whose 2010 vintage was No 2 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines of 2012. A blend whose exact proportions change every vintage, this is produced from 60-year-old vines. The 2014 vintage (92 points on Wine Spectator, Rs 6,311 in Bengaluru) is 70 per cent Grenache, 15 per cent Mourvedre and the balance split between Syrah and Cinsault — with roasted alder and savoury notes form a robust frame around the chewy-edged currant, plum and bitter cherry paste flavours. 

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant