Part II: In the Cellar

Once safely back at the winery, we dumped the grapes- bin by bin- into a freshly cleaned and disinfected tank for stomping to get the juices running. Afterward, the grapes were left to undergo the long carbonic maceration-stems and all- which sets the making of Beaujolais apart.




Here you can see the cutting edge technology used at D.C. for "remontages" or 'pumpovers,' a key part of carbonic maceration. in making Beaujolais. The juice is allowed to flow out of the tank into a clean plastic bin, where we ten pumped up 15 feet over the wall of the cuve and over the 'cap' of the wine- the topmost layer of grapes and must- for maximum and even extraction of tannins and pigment. This chore was repeated two or tree times daily, for 20-30 minutes at a time.

Part III: Into the Press and a fresh tank for Malolactic Fermentation



A. B. C. D.

A. Perhaps for our benefit, the poor sucker shoveling out the fermenting grapes from inside the tank is wearing pants. It's probably 19-20 degrees Celcius in there and the C02 fumes are dizzying, even from my position just outside the door to the tank. Vincent would shovel 600 litres worth of must out of that tiny opening with a fork and the insteps of his rubber boots- the process took about an hour and a half, depending on V.'s stamina on that particular day, and how many times the haphazard pulley system we had rigged from the cieling to support the massive tupe was dislodged from the heaving of the pump.

Just outside the frame is the stainless steel bin with the screw-press pumping the contents of the tank out a large tube and into the press.

B. The large tube delivering the must to the press, where the juice will be separated from the stems, skins and seeds.

C. The mountain of refuse, shoveled by slaves onto the bed of the tractor.

D. The 'new' wine, before malolactic fermentation has clarified it's color or softened its tannins. It's cloudy, still sweet and very low in alcohol at this point. Slightly funky grapejuice. Yum.