Digging Grapes - Grape Expectations - page 87

'mustweight'-ameasureoftheamountofsugaringrapejuice,whichindicates theamount
of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual
sugar). This meant we needed to pick to have a level of around 330 grams of sugar per litre.
Of this, around 200 grams would become alcohol, creating a level of 12 per cent and the
rest would remain as natural residual sugar in the wine.
'Be careful,' she said in her typical cautious manner. 'It's easy to make a mistake and land
up with too little sugar to be AOC Saussignac.'
At my request Thierry Daulhiac, the president of the Saussignac appellation, came round
that evening. We walked down to Lenvège and he tasted a few grapes then pulled out his
refractometer. I had bought one for Sean the week of the finger amputation; we hadn't used
it yet. Thierry took a bunch of grapes in his fist and squeezed the juice expertly over the
screen. He looked into it then passed it to me.
'C'est déjà au dessus de vingt-cinq. Tu vois?' (It's already over twenty-five. Do you see?)
I nodded sagely.
' C'est joli. Très joli. Very pretty, yes, even more pretty than mine.'
I was getting the idea about the 'pretty' term, an indicator of the quality of the noble rot
rather than physical beauty. I was taken aback by the disarming honesty that allowed him
to admit this to me, an outsider without a clue. He walked along the rows looking at the
grapes.
'There is enough for you to press it in the electric press, I think. Anyway, if there isn't
enough there are ways to fill it.'
'How?' I asked.
'A rice bag for example, or autrefois , in the old days, they used straw.'
'Where would I get a rice bag?'
'I don't know. You'll have to ask someone who uses the same press, perhaps the Sadoux.'
'How should we pick to get a result of eighteen to twenty?'
'Perhaps the best way is to do a medium pick on the first pass, then check the level and on
the next pass adjust the pick to compensate.' We walked down a row and Thierry showed
me which bunches he would take - brown or mixed gold and brown showing good botrytis
- and which he would leave - gold or green and gold - to get a medium result. I tried to
imprint the images in my head. Thierry's boyish face spread into a wide ironic grin.
' Enfin , it's not easy.'
It looked easy for him. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, he had such an easy confidence
in the vineyard, a confidence that comes from years of experience. He sensed, almost by
instinct, what the grapes he picked and squeezed onto the little screen of the refractometer
would offer in sugar concentration.
'So, are you going to do a little Saussignac?' he asked.
' Ça dépend . With Sean injured it's not easy.'
' Sans doute . But it's very, very pretty. Enfin , it would be a pity to lose it.'