Although hand picking was for long a basic tenet of Beaujolais production, harvesting by machine is not unknown. Growers producing straight AC Beaujolais (but not Beaujolais Nouveau) have been allowed to replace traditional picking by hand since 2004 – although it is estimated that less then 10 per cent of growers currently do.
This year, perhaps more controversially, an experiment is underway to harvest by machine in some of the region’s top vineyards: 25 hectares in the Beaujolais Crus (the likes of Fleurie and Morgon) and 7 hectares in Beaujolais-Villages.
Traditionally the region's Gamay vines have been trained as low bushes...