SEPTEMBER

Already the light hazes of autumn appear. The vaporous sun disperses a filtered light that is favourable for the evolution of the vegetation. The white grapes take on a lighter and more transparent colour and the red ones become more colourful. September is a month for maturation. In the vineyard, the heavy tasks are completed.
And if we have now more time on our hands than in the past, we owe it to the herbicides. Indeed these products prevent the weed from growing and have reduced substantially the laborious and tiring work, especially on the vineyards in terraces where mechanising is difficult and sometimes even impossible.
The first time we used the product 'Simarine', some twenty years ago, we did not believe in it very much. It seemed to us impossible to have a clean vineyard during the whole summer and still see the vine grow at the same time.
My mother was somewhat worried and whispered that it must be a miracle. Of course for her who so many times bent down to cut the stem of a climbing bindweed, who crooked to pull out a undesirable plant and also got stung by a thistle, a nettle or a bramble, it was difficult to believe that she would have no longer to repeat these painful and ungrateful movements.
However, as each medal has its reverse side, the miracles also have theirs too. The weed and the roots are real fulcrums and keep the soil together. If we remove them, especially on the slopes and leave the ground entirely bare, we facilitate the erosion and the water running off freely carries the soil away.
At the beginning of the weeding and after each storm, the lake changed colour and became yellow-brown. It was our soil from the vineyards, our real property, our capital that disappeared little by little in that way into the waters of the Léman.
The winegrowers quickly understood that if the weed was an enemy, the erosion was a calamity that had to be stopped quickly. Therefore everybody fights with his means and different methods to save his soil. Some use large quantities of slush, others apply straw in the spring, and one can also sow appropriate herbs, a real paradox.
Personally I have restructured my vineyard by creating small terraces that look similar to a large staircase. In this way the water cannot accelerate but instead penetrates slowly into the ground. Another advantage of this system is that all the work can be done on an even level, which is much easier and more practical than on a slope where our ankles go through hard trials.
September certainly is the most beautiful month of the year for the winegrower. He admires, somewhat proudly, his slowly ripening grapes and watches out for the first one that is ready because this tells him that it is time to attach the bird-nets. For they too know when the grapes are ripe, especially the blackbirds, which get in everywhere by skimming the ground and cheep between the stocks when you surprise them.
In due time, our local policeman fixes a board at the various footpaths around the vineyards that reads: "Unauthorised footway until after the vintage. Fine Fr. 12.- - The Municipality". As for me, I heap-up some black thorn-bush along the roads bordering my vineyards. With this walkers are usually less tempted to enter and to maraud.
September is the end of the summer, night and day share the time. A bit of nostalgia sets in and it is wonderful to be in the middle of this beautiful nature, sitting on a vineyard-wall warmed up by the sun high up in the sky and then be dazzled by the other sun from below, the one that is reflected by the lake. Really, this is a good place to live in, to dream and to relish these quiet moments in its fullness. The grapes start gilding and a scent of ripe fruits hovers in the air. This is the moment to prepare the winepress and the cellar, so that everything is ready and in order for the great event of the year: the gathering in the grapes.