We spent yesterday grape harvesting at Uncle Jean-Claude’s vineyard in Chateauneuf du Pape. More about that demain!

la vendange (von-donzh) noun, feminine
1. grape harvest; grapes (harvested); grape crop

vendanger (von-don-zhay) verb
1. to pick or to harvest grapes

And:
une vendangeuse, un vendangeur = a grape picker
une bonne vendange = a good vintage
les vendanges = grape harvesting time
un vendangeoir = a grape-picker’s basket
la vendange en vert = a green harvest (crop/cluster thinning)

Expressions:
vendanger une vigne = to harvest a vine
pendant les vendanges = during the grape harvest
faire les vendanges = to harvest or pick the grapes
vendanger de bonne heure = to get an early start on the harvesting

Citation du Jour
Comme les vendanges, les amours tardives* sont les plus délicieuses.–Jean Amadou
(Like the grape harvest, love gathered late is the most delicious.)

A "vendange tardive" is a "late harvest" (for sweeter grapes).

Families of the Vine : Seasons Among the Winemakers of Southwest France "Sanders’s book brings contemporary winemaking in France to life….Absorbing and informative." –Library Journal