Who would have thought, with this beautiful, serene morning…
That by evening we’d have a huge storm with some of the loudest ‘tonnerre’ (thunder) I’ve ever heard.
It was suddenly POURING with rain in the strangest directions, the rain lashing at the window before me while I was chopping at the kitchen bench and Lilas asked me if I thought we’d have an ‘inondation’ (flood).
‘Umm, I don’t think so sweetie!??!!!’ .Not necessarily such a big exaggeration either. We had a huge flood in the Minevois in 1999, and I’d only been explaining it to her a few days earlier.
Pretty strange weather, but hopefully not that strange.
It didn’t flood, but we had about 30mm of water. Not a great thing for the vines at this time of year. The grape bunches are now so big and beautiful – and almost there! It’s humid too, so not a great combination. The last thing the vineyards want is to rot.
Our friend at dinner last night mentioned the story of a vineyard in Burgandy, where she witnessed a helicopter hovering over a rain-drenched vineyard, fanning it dry! Those Burgundians.
Not quite the decadence of Burgandy here. Benji’s hoping for some good old fashioned wind and keeping the ‘soucis’ (worries) at bay with a little night poker!
I’ll be back later with the checklist of what they drank!…
The Vigneron's Wife 
Just love reading about your life in France. Having indulged in many of Benji’s wines – and to be honest I was a reluctant convert, but convert I am – I can understand when he posts back on the NW web site with comments like “yes, this is my wife’s favourite”…. Tres difficile, puet-etre, mais maintenant…. Feeling lazy, so not trying to be too clever there! Latest wine – as yet to be tried – is the Celtis Australis…. Love the blog, so keep this up. Look forward to meeting up with you all sometime. Best wishes for a fantastic harvest…./Barry
It’s great to hear from you Barry!… Heard a lot about you!! I hear you’re a top supporter of Benji’s wines. Big thanks!
And lovely of you to have had a look at this thing. Many merci beaucoups (now I’m being clever!).
Benji and I look forward to hosting you for a tasting sometime!…
ps. probably picking near the end of next week.