As the countdown to Luxembourg's grape harvest begins, Chronicle.lu spoke with Hubert Clasen, Managing Director at Bernard-Massard SA, to find out how recent fluctuations in the weather have affected grape growing thus far.
In around a month's time, the grape harvest is expected to begin across the 35 hectares of Bernard Massard vineyards, in two blocks located in Grevenmacher and Schengen.
This extensive period requires that the company takes on 25 extra pairs of hands in addition to the six-person team who work there all year round. The temporary team is most often a family affair, comprised of the relatives and acquaintances of employees who come from Portugal, France and Luxembourg to help pick the grapes by hand. The interim employees have often already gained several years experience in the harvesting process and are therefore familiar with both the right grapes and the ripe grapes to be picked.
"It is important to have people who know what we like and what picking means," explained Hubert Clasen. "They must be very selective in the vineyard."
From around 22 September until the end of the first week of November 2015, two teams of pickers will, weather permitting, begin collecting grapes in the early morning, decanting them into small boxes weighing a maximum of 200kg. Twice a day these boxes are then delivered to the winery to avoid being left out for too long, where the grapes will be pressed and made into wines such as Rivaner, Auxerrois, Elbling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Riesling, among others.
As Mr. Clasen explained, the harvest is extremely dependent on the weather, but that temperature fluctuations do not necessarily drastically change the harvesting period. The heatwaves of June and August created a dryness, particularly in Grevenmacher, which subsequently affected the vines, but this only signified that the grape maturation process slowed down and does not have to indicate that the grapes will be 'bad'.
Similarly, the warm period experienced over the summer in the Grand Duchy does not necessarily induce an early harvest process. Mr. Clasen reported that the grapes were so far "about one week early as compared to average", with the ripening stage currently in process and expected to last until September. However, Mr. Clasen continued by emphasising that future weather fluctuations could continue to adjust the expected harvesting period at any stage and that "if we continue to have cool evenings it will change".
Althought Bernard-Massard concentrate on producing dry wines, weather conditions are also important in determing what sort of specialty wines will be possible to develop each harvest. A number of successive warm years meant that the company produced a number of fruity wines in recent years, which are not classic for Luxembourg, and cooler periods during 2004-2008 were ripe for the production of good vintages. If weather conditions are dependable enough, the company may leave certain grapes in the vineyards with a view to later developing a wintertime wine.
Bernard Massard has taken care to develop a grape-growing system harmonious to Luxembourg's ecology. According to Mr. Clasen, "a wine-grower is a kind of gardener" and although the company still uses a limited amount of herbicides in order to deal with the threat of fungi, it has banned the use of all chemical fertilisers and insecticides. "In comparison with thirty years ago, we are looking after our soils and we care for our soils and we try to avoid as many chemicals as possible," continued Mr. Clasen.
True to tradition, Bernard Massard has created a special edition sparkling wine for the this year's 675th edition of the Schueberfouer. Every year the company selects a cuvée from their top range, which is then adorned with a new decorative label. "The Schueberfouer is a great event in Luxembourg," commented Hubert Clasen. "Every year we have another label and every year a top cuvée".
The 2015 edition of the Schueberfouer sparkling wine will be available at the fair's Bernard-Massard lounge bar, from 17:00 today, Friday 21 August 2015.
Photo by Geoff Thompson (Hubert Clasen, MD at Bernard-Massard SA)
