‘Sweat, dirt and grape juice – it’s incredibly rewarding’: volunteer harvesting on a vineyard in France

Grape picking in the Côtes du Rhône wine region is hard physical work, but it’s steeped in camaraderie – which is why so many return every autumn to help out

The wind whips the grapevines, turning my meditative picking stance into a full-body workout. I firmly plant my legs, stabilising a thrashing branch with my left hand as my right snips off a bunch of grapes. Local people claim the roaring mistral wind makes you crazy, which I can appreciate as each arid gust chaps my lips and desiccates my eyes.

I’m at Domaine Rouge-Bleu, an organic vineyard in the Côtes du Rhône wine region in southern France. I have volunteered for les vendanges, the autumnal grape harvest where backbreaking work is doused in camaraderie.