“The harvest is going to be good”: top start for the harvest on the Ile de Ré

2023-09-04 22:13:55

“This year, there will be quality and quantity,” says Isabelle Cailleteau, winegrower on thirty hectares in Sainte-Marie-de-Ré (Charente-Maritime). Up at dawn, the professional started her harvest at 4 a.m. on Monday 4 September. About a month and a half of work awaits the 40 winegrowers of the Ile de Ré cooperative, spread over 500 hectares – including 230 in white – in the ten municipalities. “Everyone harvests by machine, which is now very efficient. They then bring us the grapes that are pressed here,” explains Christophe Barthere, director of SCA Uniré, located in Bois-Plage-en-Ré.

The harvest began with the white grapes, which represent almost half of the vineyards of Retais. LP/Amelia Blanchot

Winemaking, bottling and marketing are also handled by this cooperative with 30 permanent employees. After a disappointing 2022 vintage due to frost and then drought, 2023 seems to bode well. “The harvest is going to be good. There was a bit of mildew at the end of June and beginning of July, we were scared but finally it got better. The harvest starts on a rather usual date compared to last year when we started earlier, towards the end of August”, specifies the director.

It attracts tourists

Less famous than salt or potatoes, grapes have been grown on the island since the 13th century. It is now available in three colors, as well as pineau and cognac. “The rosé is the one that sells the best, it represents half of the sales. We also have an increase in whites, which go well with seafood. Reds are less in our heart of the season, which runs from April to October,” explains Christophe Barthere. Cognac is mainly resold to cognac houses, while pineau remains coveted at retail.

The local wine benefits from a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), an Ile de Ré appellation and 10% of the members’ vines are labeled organic. Enough to seduce a mainly tourist clientele, with 70% of the marketing carried out on the territory of the region. To ensure their sustainability, around fifteen winegrowers from the cooperative also grow potatoes, still within the SCA Uniré. Namely that there are also two independent winegrowers, the Pelletier and Arica estates, on this nugget of the Atlantic.