Optical sorting in a grand cru winery in Bordeaux
This is one of the most pleasurable winery visits I have ever had - at a world famous winery, Chateau La Mission Haut Brion in the Graves appellation in Bordeaux. Chateau Haut Brion, the premier grand cru winery, is under renovation but we had the opportunity to try both wines at the end of the tour at La Mission. A 45 minute tour, with two tastings of the 2007 vintages, absolutely free. Each bottle is a few hundred Euros, why would the wine tastings be free? Well, I am not complaining...:)
The grape berries go through three sortings - the first one by humans, the second one by machine and the third one by a computer which optically scans the berries, getting rid of the ones that are rotten or not ripe. The winery hostess explained that they have been using this machine for three years, and have been renting it because it is a really expensive piece of equipment and they have been trying it out. 2012 looks like it's going to be another great year with 2009 and 2010 being the last couple of exceptional years. Years that are not exceptional are considered 'classic' years. What really impressed me is that a grand cru winery, in the old world of making wines, is now fermenting its wine in stainless steel vats before aging it in French oaks and using a highly sophiscated technology to eliminate less-than-perfect berries. It shows you how a quality wine, even in 'classic' years, is still a really good wine, even though the yield is lesser as more imperfect berries are being purged out by the optical scanning machine.
The grape berries go through three sortings - the first one by humans, the second one by machine and the third one by a computer which optically scans the berries, getting rid of the ones that are rotten or not ripe. The winery hostess explained that they have been using this machine for three years, and have been renting it because it is a really expensive piece of equipment and they have been trying it out. 2012 looks like it's going to be another great year with 2009 and 2010 being the last couple of exceptional years. Years that are not exceptional are considered 'classic' years. What really impressed me is that a grand cru winery, in the old world of making wines, is now fermenting its wine in stainless steel vats before aging it in French oaks and using a highly sophiscated technology to eliminate less-than-perfect berries. It shows you how a quality wine, even in 'classic' years, is still a really good wine, even though the yield is lesser as more imperfect berries are being purged out by the optical scanning machine.
