THE YOUNG GRAPE HARVESTERS OF FRONSAC: passing on a love of nature

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At Château de La Dauphine, the grape harvest is also an opportunity to pass on knowledge. Last Tuesday, 64 pupils from the René Princeteau school in Fronsac came to discover the gestures of the harvest and the world of the vine.
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A morning in the heart of the vineyards

With small school scissors and plastic buckets in hand, pupils from nursery through CM2 (Year 6) took over a few rows of vines specially set aside for them.

Supervised by Sophie Tabuteaud, the school’s headteacher, the teaching team and parents, the children were able to learn about the grape harvest in a privileged setting, in the heart of their village.

Behind this initiative, Julien Schaus, Cellar Master and oenologist at Château de La Dauphine for the past ten years, wished to introduce younger generations to a world that sets the rhythm of life in the region.

A partnership that grows with the seasons

This meeting is not new: the pupils had already come to harvest grapes at the Château the previous year. A natural closeness between the school and the vineyard thus gave rise to a partnership built around hands-on discoveries.

As the seasons pass, other activities have enabled the children to explore the richness of the living world: a workshop around educational beehives, which they were able to decorate, as well as a morning devoted to planting a hedge along the edge of a plot, in support of biodiversity.

Cultivating curiosity, sowing discoveries

Beyond discovering the grape harvest, these moments offer children another way to understand their environment: observing nature, understanding biodiversity, and discovering the gestures that shape the wine-growing landscape.

A local approach that reminds us that the vineyard is also a place for living, sharing and passing on knowledge.

And this story between the René Princeteau school and Château de La Dauphine is only just beginning: other projects are being considered throughout the year…