Harvest 2022 – fun and laughter to ease the stress
Season 2022 was marked with extremes.
First frost and hail
If you follow Feely farm newsletters and blog posts you will know that we were frosted in April and lost about 10% then we were hailed on 2 June 2022 and lost another 60%. We prayed for good conditions to harvest what was left.
Then a wild fire 2 days before harvest
Our neighbour inadvertently set off a wild fire that took off across his vineyards as we watched in horror on Sunday 28 August. The speed at which the fire spread was frightening. We called the fire service. Fifteen minutes later 2 large fire-engines and a back up fire landrover arrived. A couple of nailbiting hours later they had it under control.
We said a relieved thank you and hallelujah for the swift and efficient fire service in France. Photo below shows the section that was burnt. The French fire services battled many severe fires in the South West this season, including Arcachon, Landiras and the Medoc.
First day 30 August – old vine Sémillon, last day 17 September, Cabernet Sauvignon
First day of harvest, a confidential team of family, gite guests and a drop in from the wonderful Les Halls to catch the end of the morning. Very few but beautiful Sémillon grapes.
From the Sémillon we moved into the Sauvignon blanc with wonderful Canadian gite guests Curtis, Mo, John, and Nancy, and our neighbour, bringing a welcome boost to the team.
With the dry, hot conditions, the grapes ripened super fast so we moved swiftly onto the Merlot, with the amazing bucketman Roddy and unstoppable Cathy.
This harvest was super girl power and fun, with lots of friends popping in to join us.
Ace stompers, Aoife, Lotti and Lisa.
Above. And below. 😉
With much enjoyed breaks along the way.
Hamac time.
The winery team – Sean and Roddy.
Checking progress.
An amazing harvest experience thanks to the wonderful people that were part of it. We were down 70% in volume but the fun and laughter brought magic that is what we will remember about 2022.
Thanks Lisa for this fab harvest video Chateau Feely Harvest Video on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Thanks Sophia, Ellie, Lisa, Aoife, Lotti, Julia, Roddy, Cathy, Curtis, Mo, Nancy, Chris, Julianne, Sue, Vince, Sandrine, Bobby, Dora, and all our harvest day participants for your hands in it!
If you would like to support us consider buying Feely wine EU , or booking a gite, or a tour or class with us. Or join us for the Virtual Discovery Wine Course which can be taken online from anywhere and get up close and personal with Feely vineyard and Feely wines.
Discover the magic of nature in feely organic wines If you are here to understand climate change in general consider reading this post about what we can do and this post for books to inform yourself.
Come and discover more with a visit to Chateau Feely in South West France ; stay with us or do a multi day course or multi day tour . You can read about the story of our organic farm the series includes three books (order online with amazon or from your local bookstore) Find out more about our farm by reading the book series.
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