Cave de Sauveterre - Vignerons de Bordeaux

August, the véraison

Count down to the harvest.

40 days after the ‘véraison’ the grapes are ready to be harvested.The ‘véraison’ – a word not to be found in any French/English dictionary – is the moment when the red variety of grapes start to turn to red and the white grapes become translucent. They take on the transparency of glass and thus the word ‘verrer’ – become glassy. Although up to this point they felt hard to touch, the grapes take on a suppler and softer consistency. At this stage, the vine will progressively accumulate sugar in the grape up to maturity.As for the acidity, that will become less. The grapes become more and more sweet in taste and the aromas develop. In the red grapes the molecules which are responsible for the red colour are in the process of concentrating in the skin of the grapes which change from the colour green to pink, then to red and finally to black at the time of the harvest. The flesh, however, remains colourless.It is generally agreed that 40 days after the grapes become ‘glassy’ it is time for the harvest, so around the beginning of September.  Read More