Vendange 2

I would really have liked to get a photo of one of these machines working in the vines but getting a decent shot is near on impossible, or at least with my camera allied to my level of skill.

The idyllic picture of groups of people hand picking grapes is, except for a few grape varieties or vineyards where it is important, a thing of the past. Most picking these days are by these beasts. They go up and down the rows of vines and the collectors between the two uprights gather the grapes and they are depsoited into traiers either sode of the machine which either follow them down the row or at the end of each row. The set up is rigid enough to catch all the bunches but flexible enough that it doesn't pull the folige off the vine.

The most amazing thing to me is how they manage to stay upright when they go round corners, The centre of gravity must be high with little margin of error. You get some idea of the height and size against the houses on the left.