We harvested for the first time!

Yes, it’s possible to pick grapes in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. And it’s a lot of fun. My girlfriend and I went to experience the grape harvest at Vignoble du Faubourg in St-Jean-Port-Joli. Here’s the story of our day.

Another activity I can tick off!

When I was younger, I used to hear about people who went to the Okanagan Valley to pick fruit or harvest grapes and learn English in the process. I envied them. Several years later, I spent some time in the Okanagan Valley, but it was in a different context.

This fall, I did something I’d always wanted to do: harvest.

On this Saturday, we have to be at Vignoble du Faubourg by 9:00 am. We arrived a little early, around 8.45am, and it had already been pouring rain for fifteen minutes. We hope it’s only temporary and won’t last.

The people who have shown an interest in doing the harvest today all arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 and we quickly get to know each other. Around 9.00 am, the rain subsides and we go and get our little bench, which will come in handy throughout the day. After receiving the usual instructions, we make our way over to the shed where we’ll start harvesting.

Of the 50 people originally registered for the activity, we ended up with around 30 who showed up despite the uncertain weather. And they weren’t all from St-Jean-Port-Joli, but from the surrounding area, including Quebec City, Lévis and La Pocatière.

The designation of where to start cutting is done in pairs. We’re assigned to the start of a lane between two posts, and position ourselves opposite each other to do the work. Another pair is assigned to the next section of our lane. When you’ve finished your section, you move on to the next one that hasn’t been done in your lane. After that, everything alternates.

As the sections of an alley are fairly close together, this allows you to get to know the people in your own alley, or the ones next to it. When you look towards the river, you can see that the sky is slowly beginning to clear, even if it doesn’t look like it at first glance in the opposite direction.

Throughout the morning, the activity takes place in a section of older vines. They may be a little less full than the younger vines, but there are still some nice bunches to be found.