The Wrath of Grapes

I said that I thought California grapes were harvested mostly by migrant workers and machines.

"That's the U.S.A. -- mécanisation ," Frantz said.

"Stérilisation," someone rhymed.

"Purification," Frantz laughed. "Pasteurisation . . . homogénisation. "

Then, suddenly, miraculously, the work came to a stop.

"Time for a drink," Dominique called in French.

It was 10:30 a.m., and everyone gathered around the tractor. Right there on the hood of the Supertigre 7700, Dominique laid out two rows of glass tumblers. Into these he first poured out small doses of red cassis syrup. Then he pulled the cork out of a wine bottle and filled the glasses to their brims with pinot blanc.

It would be the first of many morning cocktail breaks that week. We exchanged our saluts and drank. Cans of pâté and country terrines were opened. Butcher paper was unfurled revealing two varieties of dried sausage, which was cut up with pocketknives. Loaves of bread were passed around and torn up by hand. We devoured it all and drained our glasses.

At this point it became clear to me that in spite of the pain and what California agricultural researchers call "high-risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)," I was going to have a great time and would get by -- the old-fashioned way.

A Bargain Vacation

At noon, we climbed back in the panel van, which carted us down the hill to Siebert's winery, housed in a flour mill purchased by his ancestors from Benedictine monks in the 16th century.

I had visited the winery the previous year and for 12 months toyed with the idea of joining the harvest in Wolxheim, whose claim to winemaking fame is that Napoleon cited the Rieslings as among his favorite wines in the Empire.

While faster and cheaper harvesting machines are picking more and more of the wine harvest in Alsace and everywhere, some small and high-quality producers still pick by hand. And because the wine landscape is made up of so many thousands of small producers, grape-picking in France doesn't have the labor-camp image it has in the United States. Harvesters are paid a percentage above French minimum wage (about $9 an hour), with meal costs and any lodging charges subtracted. Among my fellow vendangeurs, most said they were doing it for the outdoors experience and the ambiance of the harvest.