"English subtitle by TheRoot (a.k.a Canopus)" "Where does really great wine come from?" "From the heart and the mind of those who create it." "The finest winemakers are artists and what they do is unique." "This is a gala wine-tasting in San Francisco." "Some of the best winemakers in the world are here." "Martine Saunier organizes this annual event." "She has spent most of her life in the world of wine in France, in the United States, and around the world." "Martine only imports wine from people she knows personally." "In some cases, she's known these family winemakers for five generations." "Star of the show are the Burgundies." "Tasting them are sommeliers, chefs, owners of the best restaurants and wine stores from across the western United States." "They're deciding what to buy this year, and it's tough." "Some Burgundies are so rare, they sell for over a thousand dollars, and that's the wholesale price." "But why is one bottle of wine so much more special than another?" "It depends on the uniqueness of the taste a perfect balance of nature-the terroir- and human artistry." "To understand why Burgundy may be the most special wine region on Earth, you must visit and meet the people." "Travel with us, and with Martine Saunier, to spend a year in Burgundy." "Burgundy lies at the heart of France." "Human beings have lived here for more than 20,000 years." "To the west there are hills, and to the east, the rich alluvial plain of the river Saône." "And it was up this river that the Roman came 2000 years ago, looking for new lands to conquer, and new things to discover." "What they found here was a great surprise." "Vines of an unparalleled quality, and so far north!" "To be sure, they weren't organized into tidy rows in vineyards, as they are today." "But the original varietals of two of the world's most famous grapes are native to this are." "The white Chardonnay and the red Pinot Noir." "To this day, virtually all Burgundy wine is made from Chardonnay or Pinot Noir." "These two grapes are the real heroes of our story." "The Saunier family have lived in Southern Burgundy for generations." "They've owned this house since the 19th century- though the house itself dates back to the 1650s" "Martine first came here as a young girl." "Every summer, she would travel out from Paris to visit her aunt and spend three glorious months in wine country." "This house holds many memories." "In the cellar is an ancient wine press, still complete in every detail." "It was here, as a girl, that Martine discovered her passion." "I was a cellar-rat." "They called me a cellar-rat because..." "I used to follow the winemaker everywhere." "His name was Camille and he had a horse, La Margaux, and we went to the vineyard and I loved every aspect of it." "Today, whenever she returns to Burgundy," "Martine shares this house with her brother Jacques, an old black dog, and the family Deux Chevaux." "Driving these things is quite an art." "An art that's easily forgotten after a few months in California." "Martine's wine distribution business is based near San Francisco, but at least three times a year, she returns to France to spend time with her winemakers." "That means personal visits at all stages of the winemaking year." "She often starts near her own home, in the Mâcon region." "This is the southernmost frontier of Burgundy" "classic Chardonnay country." "Her first appointment is with Dominique Cornin." "Dominique was born just 2 miles (3 km) from here, in a house in Chaintré." "His father was the first to clear these fields." "[speaking French] I never went to university or studied wine at all." "My mother didn't want me to be a winemaker." "I followed three generations of winemakers, but my mother didn't like it as a trade." "So she did everything she could to discourage me and I studied engineering." "But I still managed to learn about winemaking..." "Every vacation, whenever I had 5 minutes," "I was in the vines with my father, watching what he did." "[narrator] Dominique employs a couple of people year-round." "Almost everything is done by hand." "They make Pouilly-Fuissé and other village appellations." "For small producers, one bad year can wipe them out- and 2011 had started very strangely in Burgundy." "The New Year was cold, but then, at the end of February, a heat-wave hit the region." "For six weeks, daytime temperatures reached 85 degrees fahrenheit(29°C)." "By April 12th the vines were three weeks more advanced than normal." "[speaking French] In case you get frost, there's a second bud that can save the crop, right?" "[narrator] The fear is frost." "If the buds develop too many leaves to early, one severe frost can kill the whole lot." "At this stage in the year, there's not much to be done, except watch the sky and pray." "The unseasonable hot weather has brought on the vines too far, too fast." "And the almost non-existent rainfall threatens a serious drought later, in the summer." "From Mâcon," "Burgundy stretches north along the river Saône, past ancient cities, to Beaune and Nuits St-Georges, and the Côte de Nuits, and all the way up to Dijon." "It's 80 miles (130 km) long, but only few miles wide." "In April 2011, this whole region was suffering from heat and drought." "At the village of Chorey, near Beaune, new vines are being planted in the dry dirt." "During the winter, Michel Gay and his son Sebastien had grubbed up old vines that were past their best, and were starting again." "Michel's grapes used to go to the local co-operative, but 20 years ago, he started making the wine himself." "The family now owns about 24 acres(10 hectares)." "By any normal standards of agriculture, this is still a tiny operation, but it's profitable because the added value of these wines- even the less famous ones-is very large." "What's more, their 24 acres(10 hectares) are spread out across several miles." "A dozen disconnected vineyards." "This is their newest-tucked into a warm and fortunate corner." "It's smaller than many people's back yards." "What goes on here is more like gardening than agriculture." "[Sebastien speaking French] This will be the first year we harvest these vines." "They're 3 years old." "With 3 or 4 bunches on each vine, we'll get about 300 bottles from this field." "That's the most they can produce, because they're very young." "Later, when we start to prune them like the others, they'll produce more." "When the vine's established, it will go into full production in about 7 years." "[narrator] People have been making wine in Burgundy for almost 2000 years, but it's never been easy." "When the Roman empire collapsed the invading Goths had little taste for the finer things in life." "The fledgeling wine business might have died completely, if it wasn't for Christianity." "The Christian Mass requires that the death of Christ be memorialized in bread and wine." "In the Dark Ages, finding wine was no easy matter in much of Europe." "But in the monasteries and abbeys of Burgundy, the communion wine was of a quality unsurpassed anywhere." "These massive churches- this is the abbey at Tournus-were built in the Roman style." "The priests and monks who presided over them preserved much of the Roman knowledge of fine living and wine for more than 1000 years." "One small collection of buildings has survived, incredibly, from the medieval wine industry in Burgundy." "This is Clos de Vougeot, headquarters of wine-making for the Cistercian monks." "This was wine production on a heroic scale." "The vast wooden wine-presses still survive, as do the storage vats, in a series of huge wooden barns." "And they still stand, right in the middle of the finest area of Burgundian red-wine production:" "the Côte de Nuits." "To this day, there are dozens of ancient cellars in Burgundy, built by Cistercian monks." "This one is owned by the Domaine Morey-Coffinet, further south, in Chassagne Montrachet." "Thibault Morey, just 30, is now the principal wine-maker, and his father Michel runs the operation." "Martine visits them two or three times a year to select wines for her list." "Martine has known this family for almost 40 years:" "4 generations of wine-makers." "[speaking French] Now let's try the Farande." "It's my most favorite." "The vines are 75 years old, aren't they?" "Or 74?" " They're grand old ladies." " Oh, I don't know..." " I think they're quite young." " Careful what you say..." "That's magnificent." "It's a shame to spit it out." "But Martine..." "You've only got one more to taste!" "Yes I know." "But it's still a shame to spit it out." "I think no-one has a particular gift at the start." "As little children we grow up surrounded by vines and wine and cellars by fathers and grandfathers who talk about wine, and the aromas and tannins." "I think that, even as a little child, even if you don't taste it you start to get a feeling for wine quite quickly." "By the age of 5 or 6," "Thibault could identify different wines by their smell." "That one is more mineral." "Very fine." "When I was young it was my passion." "I only went to school because I had to." "When I came home I joined my parents in the vines and the cellars." "I've always been fascinated by these huge cellars." "When you're small, to see cellars like these, which are so beautiful..." "When I think of the work that it took..." "It was all done by hand, carved out of the rock..." "The flavor's not there yet." "It's still very closed, but even so..." "When I go to work tomorrow morning in the cellars my eyes will be wide open, like a child." "When the monks built these caves, they built them to last- as if they knew we'd still be enjoying the wine, 500 years later." "This is a fortunate land." "The Saône Valley is incredibly fertile, though the grapes prefer the gentle slopes." "The best land of all for the Pinot Noir is here:" "the Côte de Nuits, north of Beaune." "It's barely 20 miles (32 km) long, but it may be the most prestigious wine-growing area in the world." "Here, as in the rest of Burgundy, wines are often named after villages:" "Vosne-Romanée," "Clos de Vougeot," "Chambolle-Musigny," "Gevrey-Chambertin." "These are picture postcard locations full of real charm, because the people who live in them, for the most part, are the same families who've lived in them for hundreds of years." "No two winemakers are the same, in Burgundy." "This is Bruno Clavelier." "In his spare time, he coaches young rugby hopefuls." "He used to play on France's national team, like his father before him." "And, like his father before him, he makes superb wines." "His winery is less than a mile from the rugby field." "[speaking French] So, Martine, this is the Combe Brûlée vineyard." "These are old vines." "We're just above the village of Vosne-Romanée." "Just down there to the right." "The lie of the land lets you see the different layers of soil." "Up on top of the slope you have the limestone of Comblanchien." "No vines, just brush." "And here is Combe Brûlée." "The soil is chalky, with flints." "It has something special." "A cool wind comes through at night" "It cools this little valley down... and that preserves the acidity of the wine." "This soil is a real treasure, but you have to care for it." "It has the structure we're all looking for." "It's granular, with a rich scent." "It smells great." "It smells like the undergrowth in a forest." "It's a living soil." "Yes, exactly." "So what we're looking at is the microclimate, plus the geology." "Here's the Combe Brûlée." "Because the Combe is a small closed valley, it has a unique microclimate." "The chalk comes from a chalk layer, full of these petrified sea sponges." "Some are much bigger." "The soil is also rich in these flints." "If you rub them, you get a spark." "And you get that characteristic smell of flint." "Now let's try it." "You can detect all those elements in the wine." "The hot, burned stone..." "The wine has a really mineral taste." "We're on hard rocks." "It's very tight." "You can tell it's a Brûlée... in the nose and on the palate." "Silky in the mouth, yet with very precise minerality." "[narrator] A thousand years ago the Cistercian monks had no idea about this underlying geology, of course." "But they did take note that grapes from one side of a path tasted subtly different from those on the other." "Over the years, each unique terroir began to be marked by walls and gates." "Each domain was plain to see." "All these little parcels of land are noted on the local maps." "Here is Clos Vougeot in all its detail." "These are not only records of ownership, but maps of taste." "Each tiny terroir slightly different." "[speaking French] To me, what's unique about Burgundy is the incredible diversity of its terroirs." "It's amazing." "If you take a village like Chassagne Montrachet..." "There's a premiere appellation called 'Les Caillerets.'" "We have about 40 different winemakers in just this one appellation..." "And we have about 10 different appellations in Chassagne." "So there are about 400 different wines being made, just in this one little village." "In Burgundy as a whole, there are thousands and thousands of different terroirs." "It's impossible to know everything about Burgundy." "[narrator] In late May 2011, however, all the vineyards of Burgundy were facing the same problem... drought." "The youngest vines faced the biggest challenge." "They don't yet have deep roots." "Entire plantings of new vineyards could be wiped out." "And then, just in time, the rain came." "But would it be enough?" "Rain is vital in Burgundy." "Ancient custom, and the law, decree there shall be no watering, no irrigation of vines." "That way, the roots dig deep into the different layers of rock below, enhancing the taste." "Winemaker Thibault Morey plays the piano when it's too wet to work in the vineyard." "The rain was brief." "Temporary relief for the vines, but not the solution for the vintage." "The water quickly disappears beneath the ground, to feed the deep roots of the vines, and to bubble up as springs in the center of ancient villages." "One day in early June," "Dominique Cornin decided to inspect his vines, with the help of his beloved horse, Coccinelle..." "Ladybug." "[Dominique speaking French] Being a winemaker, for me, is to be in touch with nature." "I'm the one who decides what to do." "If I want to work, I work." "It's above all to be in control of your life." "To be outdoors in the sunshine free!" "I couldn't imagine doing anything else because it makes me feel so good." "Even if there are difficult moments... well, that's life." "I love my job because it lets me be myself." "[narrator] If a wine reflects the character of the winemaker, then you'd expect the wines made here, to be very different from Dominique Cornin's." "This is Cristophe Perrot-Minot." "From his headquarters in Morey-St-Denis, he owns and manages dozens of valuable Premier Cru vineyards and top-of-the-line Grand Crus." "He exports most of his wine to Germany, Britain, America, China." "This is a business, after all." "[Cristophe speaking French] Growing vines is purely academic." "There's nothing artistic about it." "For me, it's all very rational." "Wine is like cooking:" "the grapes are just ingredients, winemaking is the cuisine." "Naturally, we love our vineyards." "We love our terroir." "These are the vines of our parents and great-grandparents." "We respect the work of each generation." "Nonetheless, growing vines demands extreme precision and rigor." "And we shouldn't get in the way of the wine." "Wine requires quality in the grapes and the terroir." "Our job is just to be a midwife at the birth of the wine." "[narrator] 30 miles (48 km) south, in Chassagne Montrachet," "Sunday morning." "Thibault Morey visits the furthest reaches of the family cellar." "[Thibault speaking French] We have a little personal cellar which my father built." "This is where he stores the wines he really loves." "It feels very ancient." "We've never changed it." "It's very damp and cold." "It's quite a special place." "[narrator] The most famous wines of Chassagne are white." "Domaine Morey-Coffinet's finest offering is a Grand Cru Bâtard." "But some of the Pinot Noirs are extraordinary too." "They get better and better for a quarter of a century." "There's a special event today-a family reunion." "[speaking French] Good morning, Madame, delighted to meet you." "Finally!" "After 40 years!" "[narrator] The two sides of the family, the Moreys and the Coffinets, are getting together for Sunday lunch, a hallowed French tradition, with family wines to match." "Both of Thibault's grandfathers are here." "They used to be winemakers themselves." "And both grandmothers are here too." "Three generations of winemakers." "It's quite something to drink a wine you made yourself, 35 years ago." "But wait, there's a fourth generation." "Little Celeste is Michel's grand-daughter." "She's just two years old." "Will Celeste be the first of a new generation of winemakers in 20 or 30 years time?" "It's not all Sunday lunches, being a winemaker." "You have to be master of all trades, not just cellar master." "In the high summer, the vineyards are plowed, to aerate the soil." "Chemical weed-killers are used less and less in Burgundy." "The vines are growing as fast as they ever will." "They must be sorted out and tied up so that the grapes can be picked more easily." "The whole family turns out to help." "This is Fabienne, Thibault's mother." "Most winemakers trim their vines mechanically." "It's fast and cheap." "But the very best Domains can afford to do everything by hand." "This is Arnaud Mortet, another of Martine's winemakers." "He prides himself in personally trimming every single vine he owns." "And he does this several times a year." "And one winemaker doesn't trim her vines at all." "[speaking French] Lalou, I would like to know what you do with your vines when they grow this high?" "I gather all the branches from the same vine all the branches and then I bend them like this." "[narrator] This is Lalou Bize-Leroy, known as the Queen of Burgundy." "[speaking French] You must bend them without tying them together too much, so they can breathe." "You put the ends between the two wires." "In 1989 we changed all our wooden posts for higher ones and we added a second wire to attach them." "It will be held like that so it doesn't become a jungle." " I notice the next vineyard here." " That's what's usually done in Burgundy." "The vines are pruned as usual." " The posts are not so high." " And the second wire isn't doubled." "It took them one hour to prune their whole vineyard." "It took us a whole day to do one row." "It's not the same culture." "Not at all." "Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon in my vines." "Yes, of course, I know my vines!" "When they don't see me they're unhappy." "When I arrive they're happy." "I really love my vines." "Vines are not well understood." "You have to put yourself in their place." "You have to understand why they're not doing well." "You have to be part of the life of the vine, and the life of the soil too." "That's all you've got to do." "Of course, I believe in biodynamics." "We should cut out all chemical substances." "the herbicides, the insecticides, the fungicides, the pesticides all the "icides"." "They sound just like homicide!" "We should stop killing things and give them the life force instead." "[narrator] The intimate relationship between humans and vines is summed up by Lalou's former winemaker," "Dédé Poncheret." "[speaking French] A vine has to suffer to make good grapes." "You can't coddle it, or it will become lazy like a couch potato." "He sits there and you feed him." "He doesn't have to work." "If the roots don't dig deep, there's trouble." "They have to go down 4 or 5 meters." "Then if it's dry for a couple of months, no problem." "The vine will survive." "A vine can live 100 years if you treat it right." "Even if there's no work to do on a Sunday, you must go and visit your vines." "That's the important thing." "There's always something you'll discover." "It's mid-summer:" "at least two months 'til the harvest." "At Clos Vougeot, there's a celebration." "The chateau opens its doors to the Chevaliers du Tastevin." "The Chevaliers are Burgundy's biggest fans." "More than 500 of the specially selected members will sit down to a six-course meal, accompanied by the finest wines of the region." "Everything has to be just right." "For Burgundy lovers, this is the Holy of Holies." "The tradition dates back only to the 1930's... but still." "The first round in this test of stamina is an ice-cold glass of sparkling wine." "Thibault and his wife Christine are Martine Saunier's guests." "Serving 500 people simultaneously to a Cordon Bleu meal takes a little thought." "Meanwhile, the ceremony begins." "New members will be initiated into the Knighthood of Wine Tasters." "And then down to the serious business." "It's a six-course banquet:" "baby rabbit with a Saint Romain to drink, sea urchins with a Grand Cru Corton," "Burgundy egg surprise with a Montély." "All that and more." "And entertainment!" "Some people have come 2000 miles (3000 km) for this dinner, like these Russian generals." "All this in honor of the wines of Burgundy." "When should you start to pick the grapes?" "Everyone has to make their own decision." "If possible, avoid the full moon, it's generally agreed." "It's usually around 100 days after the vines have flowered, but that depends on the kind of weather you're having." "In 2011, the summer turned wet and cold." "The vines, which had been three weeks in advance in June, now slowed down." "The harvest was still going to be early, but how early?" "August the 20th?" "September the first?" "You have to watch the sky, because rain is the decisive factor at this stage." "Normally the Burgundy harvest begins down south in Mâcon, where it's warmer." "And so it was in 2011." "On August the 25th," "Dominique Cornin gathered together a motley band of students and locals, and set out for one of his most valuable vineyards." "But there's tension in the air." "It's still only August, and many of the grapes are ready, and a major rainstorm threatens." "These are high value grapes." "They're being grown for the ancient Hospice de Beaune." "Dominique can't afford to lose any of these." "He's personally out in the fields, all day long, on the tractor." "And so the harvest begins three weeks earlier than usual, and the weather forecast is terrible." "But rain isn't the only problem." "What if it turns to hail?" "[Michel speaking French] When you hear the thunder, you're often looking out of the window..." "You're looking to see if it's rain or little hailstones." "Or large ones..." "Little ones aren't bad, but big ones..." "The problem is that, during a storm, even if you can't see the hailstones the hail can be falling very close by, on vines only 200 or 300 meters away." "So after the storm, you take the car and go round the vines to see if there's been serious damage." "The only thing to do is to cut the grapes immediately, before disease gets into the fruit." "It's crazy." "You call the grape-pickers and hit the ground running." "You've got to pick those grapes." "[narrator] On August the 31st," "Thibault gets an E-Mail from the laboratory." "Their very best grapes are ready to pick, but storms are forecast, and their grape-pickers won't arrive for two days." "Michel talks to the lab." "[speaking French] I admire people who keep calm..." "Sure, you never know if they're really calm inside, I mean." "But my father's always been very stressed and I have to say, me too." "Thibault?" "I hope he's a little less so..." "After all, it doesn't help, does it?" "So the problem is whether it will rain on Thursday evening..." "OK, thank you." "I'll see you soon." "Thanks again." "Goodbye." "[narrator] The decision's made." "They'll harvest the Grand Cru Bâtard tomorrow, and the family will have to do all the work." "The Bâtard is the most valuable land the Morey-Coffinets own." "Just up the road from their home, it produces superb Chardonnay." "But in this sea of vines, they only own six rows." "The question is... which six?" "All that marks their last row is a knotted piece of cloth." "The task at hand is for five people to bring in the entire crop, before the grapes heat up in the noonday sun." "Picking grapes is back-breaking work." "You get into a rhythm." "As the sun rises, the chatter dies down." "Before they get too hot, the grapes are rushed back to the winery." "They're given a quick inspection, and then they're on the way to the wine press." "White grapes are crushed immediately, and the juice is separated from the skins and bits of twig" "That is, when you can get the machine started." "This is what will turn into a Bâtard Grand Cru, after 18 months of fermentation and tender loving care." "Today it's just grape juice." "In two years time, it'll cost you more than $200 a bottle." "The juice is immediately pumped into stainless steel holding tanks, to keep it cool." "That way, fermentation won't begin too soon." "Already, perhaps, the expert can tell how good the eventual wine may be." "The worst thing about the summer of 2011 was that the rain came too close to the harvest." "[Sebastien speaking French] The vines are growing too fast, we've had too much rain." "The grapes will be too big, and are at risk of mildew." "Or rot." "Or both." "Botrytis the bad kind, not the 'noble rot'." "What we need is like yesterday: a brief shower." "Up to 25 or 30 mm of rain and a bit of sun and heat." "Not 40°C, like in 2003." "30 or 35°C degrees maximum, like normal." "[narrator] But you can't wait too long, or the grapes will spoil on the vine." "So, on the 28th of August, the Gays made their final preparations for the harvest." "Family winemakers need to do everything themselves, from planting new vines to light welding." "Everything has to be ready for the big day, right down to the beds set up for the grape-pickers." "And then, it's a waiting game." "Waiting for the perfect day to begin." "By the end of August, all over Burgundy, fleets of white vans are on the road." "The harvest is in full swing." "An army of temporary workers will be assembled, some of them old hands, some of them new." "At Sebastien and Michel Gay's, they sign in, and then it's out to the fields" "It's Michel, Sebastien's father, who runs things in the field." "His problem, in this vineyard, is hail." "Many of the grapes have been damaged, and that's why they started here, to save the crop." "So, the hail..." "The damaged part must be scraped off like this..." "This is what the hail does." "This grape has burst." "You can see the seeds." "The hailstones go right through the leaves." "[narrator] 9:30 am:" "first break in the day, time for a hearty snack." "French grape-pickers expect to be well-fed, and Michel's one of the crew." "It may be only 9:30, but that's no reason not to have a drink and make a few friends." "9:45:" "The first batch from the hail-damaged vineyard is on its way back to the winery." "Sebastien's in charge here." "He can't afford to let any of the damaged grapes get through the sorting process." "[speaking French] About 50% of them have got problems." "One half of the vineyard got most of the damage." "Most of these are fine." "There are still a few which need to be taken out." "Another problem with hail, when the grapes are ready is that they get damaged and grow scar tissue." "After fermentation, the wine can taste like cork." "We call it the taste of hail." "It can ruin the wine." "[narrator] 20 miles (32 km) north, in Vosne-Romanée, it's cooler, and they haven't started the harvest yet." "Christophe Perrot-Minot wants to wait 'til the last possible minute to get the maximum flavor out of his grapes." "He and his winemaker take samples for testing." "Note, it's the owner of the Domain who does this work personally." "Christophe knows every row of vines in over 20 vineyards, scattered across the Côte de Nuits." "[speaking French] There's real potential." "The color's better than 2007." "[narrator] Perrot-Minot will now take these grapes back to the lab, his lab, for analysis." "Only then will he know when to harvest." "Absolute precision is required." "[speaking French together] Martine, you have to put 10 grapes in and I have to put in 20." "[narrator] An exact number of grapes is counted out... and then crushed." "The grape juice is filtered, and then analyzed by computer." "Are these grapes ready?" "The read-out says it all:" "acidity, sugar content." "What was once done by hunch alone, is now a science." "The wild card is the weather." "You might want to wait a day or two, but you don't want rain." "[speaking French] Wednesday will be nice..." "Thursday nice..." "Friday, a storm, rain, 17°C (63°F) [narrator] Another storm is on the way, and Perrot-Minot is taking no chances." "He'll start tomorrow." "The procedure is more or less the same, at every winery in Burgundy." "Assemble the troops at 7 o'clock and- first things first- do the paperwork." "This being France, there's an unimaginable quantity of paperwork." "Every single employee has to be entirely legal." "Five separate government departments and the police check on who's working." "Christophe's father leads the troops out into the fields, but the briefing is given by his son." "[speaking French] Please stand still and I'll show you..." "It's important you understand that there is a lot of rot this year." "We didn't have a very good summer so you're going to find some bunches like this." "You must absolutely not put these in the buckets because we can't do anything with them." "Every time you put a bunch in the bucket, ask yourself: is it good or not?" "If you get one like this, it's not difficult." "You just cut the rotten part off, and drop it on the ground, not in the bucket." "So with each bunch, look at it carefully and only keep the best part." "This part you discard, this part you keep." "[narrator] The briefing over, the harvesters are assigned their duties." "Now, the hard work begins." "Every move is supervised by the Perrot-Minots." "Every bucket of grapes is scrutinized." "[speaking French] No no no!" "There's nothing but rot here!" "This is rotten!" "This is someone who was busy talking or wasn't looking." "It's not a joke." "I'm not kidding." "This bucket's full of rot." "Look!" "It's OK if you didn't understand the first time, but not the second time." "It's really not a joke." "I respect my workers." "You have to respect my work." "[narrator] So worried is Christophe about the rotten grapes, that he hurries back to the winery... in fact, he runs." "The first batch has already arrived and is now being processed." "[speaking French] What about the rot." "How bad is it?" "Not too much, eh?" "There's some here, but it's not bad." "[narrator] Everybody is completely focused on the grapes." "[speaking French] They're very nice, right?" "[narrator] But Christophe will soon have something else to worry about." "Who's have guessed that the police would choose today to arrive and check everybody's work permit..." "And stop the photography too, of course." "Not only do they come to your door, they're watching you from the sky." "Helicopter patrols check who's harvesting where and when." "Christophe's father has seen it all before." "Lunchtime for the grape-pickers at Domaine Morey-Coffinet." "There'll be four courses, all prepared, cooked and served, by Thibault's mother, Fabienne." "Fabienne will put on this kind of meal, for 27 people, twice a day, for a week." "It's not surprising that most of the locals, and some of the students, come back here to work the harvest, year after year." "30 miles (48 km) north, in Vosne-Romanée all the attention is on the grapes at the winery of Lalou Bize-Leroy." "[speaking French] You have to respect the grapes." "The whole year long, we've coddled these grapes." "We don't just dump them in a bucket and bring them back like a pile of manure." "We carry them back in little baskets, like raspberries." "On the sorting table, we check them very carefully." "There are as many people sorting as picking." "We take our time." "[narrator] Pinot Noir produces a low yield." "The best grapes are incredibly valuable." "20 pairs of eyes are checking them." "The sharpest eyes of all are Lalou's." "Since she started wine-making, she has supervised the quality of her grapes... personally." "Not a single blemish will be permitted." "At last, it's all over." "The harvest is finished at Domaine Morey-Coffinet." "There's a tradition here that on the last afternoon, there's some fun." "They let off steam." "The youngest grape-picker gets to tease the boss." "There's some horsing around." "Then there's happy chaos." "At the heart of the chaos, Michel Morey, owner of the Domain." "Not every winery sees the boss join in the craziness." "Everyone knows it's time to relax." "Back at the house, preparations are in hand for a more sophisticated celebration." "Cleaned up, after the food-fight in the fields, the grape-pickers come to a party in the cellars, to honor the harvest of 2011." "Everyone's here, hosted of course by Michel and Thibault." "They're pouring a selection of bottles from the last ten years." "Even Celeste is part of the party, of course." "Now is a time to reflect, to consider past vintages, to taste and to enjoy." "Maps of Burgundy, the Chassagne region, remind the students that they're following a thousand-year tradition." "Like generations before them, they're learning from those who know fine wine." "Outside in the fields, the first signs of autumn are appearing." "The vine-leaves have done their work for the year." "They've harvested the sun, they've created the grapes." "Now, they die." "Every year, it's a spectacular show." "Sebastien Gay is the first of all the winemakers to punch down his grapes." "Pigeage, as it's known, is only done to red grapes, and helps to infuse the juice with the red color and flavor of the skins." "These are the grapes from the hail-damaged vineyard." "They're starting to ferment of their own accord, so this must be done soon, and fast." "From here on, every winemaker does things their own way." "[speaking French] First, we're going.." "to make our own unique wine." "We don't want our neighbors copying us." "If we make something really good, really special, they'll say, 'How did you do that?" "' they'll say, 'How did you do that?" "'" "I'm like a chef with a 'secret sauce'." "I won't tell." "We work behind closed doors." "Open the doors for the harvest." "Close them to make the wine." "That's what my father used to say." "[narrator] How to do pigeage isn't a secret." "It's what the winemakers learn from doing it, that's important." "Some of them insist on getting right into the tank, to understand what they're dealing with." "[speaking French] What's interesting and important is that each vine has its own unique grapes." "Some have thin skins and more juice." "Some have thicker skins and less juice." "There's a balance between solid and liquid." "Every vine is different." "What is really interesting is to feel the difference yourself." "When you punch the grapes down personally, you feel the resistance." "You feel whether the grapes are more solid or more liquid." "Then you know instinctively how to make this wine so that it will express its character." "About three years ago," "I got much more relaxed about the whole process." "I was more open." "There was a much deeper connection between me and the grapes." "For three years I've been making wine with real feeling my own way rather than following the rules and doing what they tell you." "I feel like an artist now." "I paint what I like." "Nobody tells me what to do." "[narrator] Just down the road from Perrot-Minot," "Lalou Bize-Leroy is reviewing her harvest with Martine." "[speaking French] Let me show you what we did yesterday." "This is a beautiful vat." "If you want to have a look..." "We poured their juice back over them two or three times." "They're La Roche, harvested the day before yesterday." "They're like the grapes on the sorting table." "They're not de-stemmed or crushed, so there's no juice on top." "De-stemming damages the grapes." "You must avoid disturbing the yeast in the skins." "Here's health to us all and our work." "And health to the vintage..." "Is it good?" "Each vine has its own yeast." "Yeast gives a wine its identity because it is part of the grape." "It's in the earth and the air too..." "It's yeast that's the wine-maker - not us." "It's yeast that breaks down the grapes and changes sugar into alcohol." "The alcohol kills off the yeast, but it's the yeast that gives birth to the wine." "That's a good lesson to learn." "We have to realize that we're all part of the same universe, and we need all its energies." "[narrator] Down this sorting table come very special grapes." "From them, Lalou Bize-Leroy makes some of the rarest, most famous, most expensive wines on Earth." "Each one created by its own unique combination of yeasts." "The future value of what's in these vats is hard to imagine." "And if you go downstairs, you enter Aladdin's cave, because here are Lalou's wines in barrel, and visitors get to try whatever is offered." "What's offered is very good indeed." "[speaking French] We've got more than 6 acres(2.62 Hectares) of this one alone... [narrator] In the depths of winter, the winemakers of Burgundy go to ground." "Barrels add flavor, over time." "But every day, they lose a little of their contents to evaporation." "Too much air in the barrel does no favors to red wine, so they need to be topped up, at least once a week." "The wine also likes to be gently stirred." "[Thibault speaking French] 'Batonnage' consists of stirring the sediment into the wine to give it more body." "If the wine is a bit too acidic, we'll do this a couple of times a week." "This will fatten up the wine and make up for what's missing." "I feel good down in the cellar because it's very calm." "Since they were constructed by the monks back in the 16th century there's a special atmosphere down here." "I love it." "Often I put on some classical music in the barrel room." "It does me good, and I think it does the wine good too." "Wine is alive." "From the moment you pick the grapes till the moment you drink it, it's alive." "Music calms it as it matures." "[narrator] But is there room in the modern world for the winemaker-artist, who creates unique wines to suit his own personality?" "[Dédé speaking French] Burgundy wines ought to be all different." "But science now allows us to make wines that are all the same." "That's a pity." "They all used to have their own character, like human beings." "But progress is pushing all of us to make the same kind of wine." "[narrator] How much will the standard tastes of the international market force Burgundy to change?" "How will the winemakers survive if they insist on allowing each vintage to be its own unique self?" "4000 miles (6500 km) to the west of France, lies one of Burgundy's most important markets, the United States." "This is Blackberry Farm, a luxury resort in Tennessee." "Cheers!" "A group of friends get together to enjoy the best of Burgundy." "These are people who look for wines that are unique." "Wonderful color." "Wonderful." "This is spectacular." "They are tasting Christophe Perrot-Minot's 2008 Chambertin." "[chatter] Wonderful." "Now I'm going to introduce you to my third winemaker I brought specially," "He is the grandson of Marc Morey, famous winemaker." "And also, I have to tell you, Thibault is a great pianist also." "This wine is very delicate, and it needs maybe 8 or 10 years to open." "But we'll try to taste it now." "And I... [narrator] The future of Burgundy depends on the taste of connoisseurs like these." "This is a Premier Cru, very famous in Burgundy." "[narrator] Later, there'll be a dinner, with a Burgundy to match each course." "to Blackberry Farms." "And to good friends." "Good friends." "[narrator] As the year turns, the wine-making families go out in ones and twos, to prune their vines." "This will make the root stalk stronger for the next harvest." "They burn the dead wood right here in the field." "The ashes fall to the ground, making good natural fertilizer." "This is something they've done for hundreds of years." "But then, there's a lot of things they do in Burgundy, that they've been doing for hundreds of years." "In a couple of months, exactly when, who knows, the first signs of spring will come again, and then, it'll be another year in Burgundy."