Taking the plunge in a pigeage vat

A few weeks ago I found myself waist-deep (at times, alarmingly, a little deeper) in a vat of fermenting pinot noir. This is ‘pigeage’, the traditional Burgundian method of giving a ferment a healthy churn. You jump in and thresh about to extract more colour, tannin, and other goodies from the stems and skins. I was no pigeage virgin. Whenever I visit a winery over vintage I take my togs in case I get the call.