Spanning over a month, from 18 August to 25 September, the harvest took place as the grapes ripened, keeping the farm team busy throughout August and September.
The season began on 18 August with the harvest of the Merlot grapes intended for our 100 per cent organic grape juice. From 7.00 am, around twenty employees, former employees, volunteers from the Tour du Valat and seasonal workers lent a hand to the farm team. Together, they harvested 7,634 kg of grapes during this collective morning’s work, which went on to produce 4,938 litres of grape juice, now available for sale.
The harvest then continued across the various plots at the Mas du Petit Saint-Jean. In total, 11 further mornings of harvesting involved 47 different people.
A collective, manual grape harvest
At Mas du Petit Saint-Jean, the grapes are harvested by hand, a method adapted to the scale of production and the way the farm operates. This manual harvest requires time and care, particularly when sorting the bunches, but it is also a special time in the life of the Mas. For a few weeks, staff, former staff, seasonal workers and volunteers come together with a shared goal.
Once picked, the grapes are taken directly to the Mas du Petit Saint-Jean’s winery, where they are destemmed, then pressed and placed in vats. Over the coming months, they will be transformed into the agroecological farm’s new vintages, produced from organically grown grapes.
The vines are also home to biodiversity
During the grape harvest, we also discovered around fifteen passerine nests built right amongst the vines and hidden by the foliage. Most of them were nests of goldfinches and corn buntings.
This discovery serves as a reminder that vineyards are also habitats for wildlife, particularly for birds that find refuge there to nest.
🍷Until the new 2026 vintages are ready, wines from previous vintages at Mas du Petit Saint-Jean are still available for sale. Do feel free to discover them and taste the produce from this agroecological farm.
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