Harvesting Grapes in Lavaux

On Saturday, 27 September, just a few days after the autumnal equinox, one of my Korbel in Geneva classmates and I woke up at the crack of dawn and made our way to the tiny town of Villette, located near the slightly larger town of Lutry, in the Lavaux region of Vaud Canton. Why did we do this, you ask? Well, not only is the Lavaux region absolutely beautiful (one of my two favorite places in Switz, from what I've seen so far, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site), but we were taking advantage of a last-minute opportunity to assist a local vintner with les vendages, or the fall grape harvest!

The sunrise over the vast terraced vineyards was just gorgeous, and our welcome to Alain Chollet's home and property was warm and kind. After trekking up a really steep hill to the vineyards, we were introduced to Monsieur Chollet and his family, as well as to the seven other people who would be helping harvest grapes that day. We got to know each other a bit, communicating in both English and French, and enjoyed coffee and croissants as we prepared to start our day of work. Those of us on the harvesting team had quite diverse backgrounds. Jordan and I were definitely the youngest of the crew, with the oldest being two women who were in their 70s. There was also a librarian, a guy who worked at Nestlé, an old family friend of the Chollets, and a woman who was originally from Poland. We all got along really well, and it was a treat to be able to speak with them and get to know them over the course of the day.

 

To harvest the grapes, we were provided with a small pair of very sharp clippers (three of our crew clipped themselves by accident during the day, but Jordan and I made it through without a scratch!) and then we were instructed on how to clip the grape clusters off of the vines and pick out the obvious rotten grapes and those that had been recently hit with a parasitic fly (those little guys were mean!). The fly problem has only begun to occur this year (the family has owned the vineyards since the 1920s), so it was a surprising and disconcerting issue for the Chollets to try to deal with at the beginning of the harvest season. Since the flies only affected red grapes, that's all we picked all day (much of it was Pinot Noir) to try to save as much of the red grape crop as we could!

 

 

The work of clipping the grapes wasn't too difficult, but the bending, squatting, twisting, etc., in order to get to the grapes definitely left our backs pretty sore the next day! However, it really was enjoyable work, especially since every time you looked up from the vines and the beautiful clusters of grapes, you saw the mountains, Lac Léman, and other terraced vineyards for miles and miles on either side of you. The weather was absolutely perfect that day (about 70 degrees and sunny- just right for outdoor manual labor!), and it was a feeling of pure joy to work hard in the sunshine with such stunning scenery.

 

 

After three hours of work in the morning, we were treated to an apéro of one of the Chollet's white wines while relaxing on the terrace overlooking the area. So beautiful! We were then provided with a fantastic homemade lunch of spaghetti Bolognese, a delicious salad, and a glass of one of the family's red wines. It was an amazing meal with great people on a completely lovely day! Jordan and I were in heaven.

We all went back to work for about another three and a half hours after lunch, and at the end of the day, we decompressed from our labor with tea and some delicious homemade cakes. Monsieur Chollet told us that we had all picked a collective 2 tons of grapes that day! 

When it was time for everyone to return to their respective homes in the evening, we were rewarded for our labors with six bottles of the family's wine to take home! What an awesome wage to work for! I will do hard labor for wine anytime. ;)

All in all, it was a perfect day and a fantastic way to welcome in the autumn season (my favorite time of year!). Lovely weather, gorgeous scenery, great people, good work, delicious food, and a spectacular reward for our efforts. Alain Chollet and his family are some of the most kind, welcoming, and warm Swiss people I have met here. I highly recommend exploring his website, learning more about his family's vineyard, stopping by their vineyard for a glass or a bottle if you hike the Lavaux Wine Route, and signing up for les Vendages in a future summer/fall! I promise you will have a lovely time.