Champagne harvest 2015 – portrait of a harvester: Myriame Chaperon

 

Every harvest Champagne attracts more than 20,000 harvesters from all walks of life. It is one of the few regions were the majority of pickers are still watered, fed and put up during harvest. This means that some people return year in year out, whilst others come only once to enjoy the experience. As part of my harvest overview I thought it would be fun to tell the story of a harvester every day. 

I first saw Myriame Chaperon when she served me a beer this lunch time at Vincent Laval’s place. She is a cheerful happy girl with an excellent Champagne knowledge working her first Champagne harvest this year. 

When asked why she chose to pick grapes at Vincent Laval, she answered: ” I have long been passionate about Champagne and wanted to experience the harvest. Over the past few years I had met Vincent several times so he seemed a natural choice. Especially since I really like his wines!”

Originally from Lyon, Myriame worked at Bubble Dogs, a London Champagne and hot dog bar up to December 2014. Upon returning  to France she took a job at Tetedoie, a Michelin starred restaurant, but quickly felt the pull of Champagne again. 

When she visited the region for Terres et Vins de Champagne in April she knew she would work with Champagne again. The seed to open a Champagne bar in Lyon was firmly planted. The idea is to educate people on Champagne and explain why the wines are often more expensive. “I want people to realize that Champagne can be drunk every day, it is not only for special occasions. There is a wide diversity of styles, something very few people realize”, says Myriame. She admits to have been very influenced by her time at Bubble Dogs which has a similar philosophy. However she also realized that she needed other experiences. “Working harvest in Champagne is an excellent opportunity for me to learn more about Champagne. I get to spent time in the vineyard as well as see the press and the wine making process – in short I get a great overview of how everything works”, elaborates Myriame. 

She is very happy to be able to experience it in a small family run domain. Myriame concludes:  “It is my first harvest ever, and I wanted to experience it in a tight knit and real environment. After being here for only 2 days I realize the human aspect is probably just as important as the technical aspect; it is the reason why people return year after year! ”