Harvest traditions - part 3

Marlborough's harvest traditions - part 3 at Clos Henri

Image: Clos Henri vintage cellar hand Clio Lestable and former team member Jean-Charles Duron, who has since returned to France

Sixteen years ago, Damien Yvon moved to Marlborough from his homeland of France for a three year stint working at Clos Henri. Needless to say, he never left.

For all but one of those 16 years, prior to the covid-19 pandemic, the company’s founders, the Bourgeois family of France, have joined him at work during harvest.

“The owners, the family back in France, are extremely involved and they always come for vintage, and that’s really driving the wine style in the estate,” Damien says.

“For harvest, the family is always here, not as a controlling role but as a support to us in a very practical way. They are here every day, helping us and working on the ground.”

The arrival of the pandemic and subsequent border closures in 2020 have meant that for only the second and third time in 16 years, members of the Bourgeois family have been unable to travel to New Zealand to help with the vintage. 

Alongside the support of the Bourgeois family, 10th generation winemakers, Clos Henri has a tradition to work closely alongside one another, with vineyard and winery teams remaining in close contact throughout harvest.

“All of our fruit is from the estate, we don’t have any growers that supply us, and so there’s a sense of unity; we just look after ourselves, in a way.

“One thing that we like doing is making sure there’s a strong connection between the vineyard and the winery. There’s the vineyard on one side and the winery on the other [of the estate], and we try to share the knowledge and experience with one another … part of the winemaking happens in the vineyard,” Damien says.

Prior to covid-19, one long standing tradition, led by Henri Bourgeois and his family, was to hold a daily shared lunch throughout vintage.

“[Traditionally], family members come from France and they share a glass and meal with us, and they learn about what’s happening here and we learn about what’s happening in France. It’s sharing insights and stories and so on. It’s a very rich experience … that’s really important to us,” Damien says.

“We haven’t managed to do so for the last two years, but normally we always sit down for lunch together and have a shared meal. As much as I appreciate the individual meal [of the last two years], the only problem is that it drives a bit of a sense of individualism,” Damien says.

With the Government recently announcing a relaxing of the border rules for essential workers, Damien and the team are hopeful that one of their French colleagues will make it in this year. 

“Having the owners that are coming from a long line of winegrowers here every year with us really makes a big difference, to the way we do things and the way we communicate,” he says.

“It’s amazing that you can work alongside the owners, and especially working with people who you can’t teach them anything, they know so much.”

The entire team is hopeful that by next year, they will be able to return to ‘harvest as usual’, complete with the Bourgeois family.