vineyards – Page 3 – The Vigneron's Wife

a secret garden

October 14, 2012October 26, 2012The vigneron's wife

I woke up early this morning and was greeted by this.

How could I go back to bed with that.

I put the coffee machine on, bread in the toaster and had a wander outside.

As the sun rose and the sky brightened, you could see it would be a glorious morning – perfect for a morning walk. So after dropping Lilas off at school, Anne-Laure and I (where are you Mathilde!) set out on an old abandoned road, leading out of the village. I love these morning walks. With a dodgy back and all sorts of creaky things going on, I’m meant to keep up a minimum of exercise. Geez, I should be doing so much more, but I’ve never been sporty – so these ‘promenades’ are my small contribution to keeping me on my feet. We generally head out of the village without any idea of direction and just keep going as far as the route will take us. Sometimes it’s 40 minutes, sometimes you get lost and the route back takes a bit extra.

Feet stumbling in the rocks, you see beautiful centuries-old dry stone walls, remnants of old barns, local folk walking their dogs, vineyard workers, brand new views of the village from afar and wave after wave of vineyards. It is so good out here, I get completely addicted to it. Every morning has its beauty and I suck it all in and try and store it in some part of my head for the rest of the day. This time is a luxury and I am thankful to have it.

This particular morning Anne-Laure directed me along a road she knows well, with a special treat at the end of it.

This perfect, secret garden. A wonderful surprise ‘au bout’of the long lane.

We stood admiring it from outside its fence and then realised that its ‘proprietaire’ was inside, also standing and staring – at us.

He insisted we come in and visit.

It was the most beautiful vision of green – carefully tended boxes with row after row of salads, herbs, tomatoes, leeks, silver beet, gigantic-leafed plants to keep away the moles… He was happy to have us here and share his private space. The monsieur said he’d started growing his ‘potager’ around twenty years earlier and came everyday to work it. I asked him if with all this amazing produce he cooked – and he laughed heartily (with a cigarette dangling off his lip) and replied no, that it was to keep him busy after retiring and that, as he lived alone, he gave most of his vegetables away. We thanked him for his time and were handed a bunch of herbs. He then followed us out, locking the gate behind him and said it was time for his cafe. A great way to greet the morning.

some sights #5 – images from the Minervois

September 21, 2012November 7, 2012The vigneron's wife

: a view from Chateau Maris

the eggs! — Now this is crazy (but beautiful) …LES OUEFS! – these are the egg-shaped tanks used to age wine in the Maris winery.
I keep thinking Mork from Ork is going to crack out of one…

inside the new Chateau Maris cellar — Jean-Pierre in the Chateau Maris winery yesterday (the walls are made of hemp!)

la liviniere — driving from La Liviniere

Mauzac Nature 2011 — Now this was hard, parting with this bottle today to throw it into the recycling bin. It was SO delicious!! A sparkling white that almost tasted like a very dry cider. Lucky the bottle was big, it went down so quickly!
(Merci Isabelle et Vincent)

last night's tomatoes — Last night’s tomatoes.
Got to make the most of these babies before the season is out.

Saint Chinian flags — Bleu, Blanc et Rouge in Saint Chinian

carca wine shop — wine shop in Carcassonne

hanging the laundry — hanging out the laundry

European Carpenter Bees — European Carpenter bees in the garden

thongs, flip-flops, claquettes — ‘thongs’ in my home (yes, not the ones on your butt), ‘flip-flops’ in the UK and the US, ‘Jandals’ in NZ, ‘slops’ in South Africa, ‘schlapfen’ in Austria… ‘tongs’ or ‘claquettes’ in France. I like this one – Lilas said the name comes from the sound they make as you walk? Anyone know if this is right?

window in Saint Chinian — window with ‘fresh’ flowers

Rebecca's curry — Rebecca’s Kerala Prawn Curry, mmmmmn. The onion bahjis were a knock-out too, but my photo didn’t work out

a house inside a building — a house in a house

Grandma's Pussy — ‘Grandma’s Pussy’ – from *Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories, Series B, Volume 10*
…Really!

Les Vendanges – La Rentree

September 14, 2012November 10, 2012The vigneron's wife

: Checking the grapes, the night before school goes back

lilas with a bunch — a bunch ready for the picking

It only seems like yesterday that Lilas broke up from school and started the Summer holidays at the beginning of July.

And then before I knew it, we’d been on the Naked tour, my family had come and gone, the Olympics and Paralympics ended with a bang, the Fetes de Villages had packed up for the year, our Summer friends had all been and gone…

…and suddenly the grapes got ripe for the picking! (‘Les Vendanges’):

VENDANGES EN LANGUEDOC, Societe des Cartes Postales APA-POUX, ALBI - 'AS DE COUER' — ‘Vendanges en Languedoc’ (AS DE COEUR)

– and the new school year (‘La Rentree’) 2012-2013 started.

Come September, a different kind of ambience sets in around here. The tourists (or most of them!) have left en masse, the weather softens and jumpers come out for nights on the terrace, the markets no longer have ‘bouchons’ (traffic jams):

…the local pools have shut their gates:

– and tanned bodies (just not ours) post ‘les vacances’:

…get ready for some WORK!

following a tractor during the harvest — You often get stuck behind these people during the harvest! Time to slow down and have some respect…

Les Vendanges a La Liviniere — ‘Les Vendanges’ in La Liviniere

Les Vendanges is one of the most important events on our local calendar (most people in our village own or have some family connection/ investment in grape vines) – and each year, come September, there is the most wonderful buzz in the air. The village hums with expectation and excitement over the ‘recolte’ (harvest) – it’s time to pick the ‘fruits’ of a long year’s labour.

And harvest always coincides with the kiddies going back to school after two months’ of holidays. I still can’t quite get my head around this school ‘year’ here. In Australia our school ‘year’ begins around the beginning of the calendar year, in February – after Xmas and at the end of Summer. Here, each school year ends in what I would call the middle of the year, July, and then recommences in September. And because of this schoolbooks, labels etc name the school ‘year’ as ‘2000-2001’ etc. This year for example, is ‘2012-2013’. I know I’m rambling. Maybe it’s because I’m from ‘down there’ that I’m confused.

picking an apple for school — Picking an apple for tomorrow’s ‘gouter’ (afternoon snack) on the first day back at school

Anyway, back to the grapes. The reds are just getting under way, but Benji has been picking for a couple weeks’ now as the whites here ripened earlier. As for how this year’s harvest will be? It’s looking good so far – relief! The weather has been almost perfect for the grapes these last few weeks – a lot of sun and no rain – and so it all needs to come in NOW!

It will be the biggest week yet – 4am starts, working through until 6pm, 7/7. Another couple of weeks of this, then it’s finished for the pickers and machine harvesters in the vines, but full-steam ahead in the wine cellar – managing the tanks and their juice. Benji will maintain this crazy routine for a few more weeks yet – until the end of October. And then it will be time to think about HIS holiday!…

Philippa’s Oven-Baked Asparagus

June 1, 2012May 20, 2021The vigneron's wife

I want to share a little recipe with you. It’s asparagus season here and every year we eat tonnes of it and the way we’ve normally prepared it, is steamed until al dente and served on a platter with boiled egg scattered over the top and then washed over with a mustard vinaigrette (essentially an oil-based sauce with vinegar – to which you can add lemon juice, salt, pepper, mustard etc, whatever you feel like!).

market asparagus

another asparagus grower at the Olonzac market — …more asparagus at the Olonzac market

asparagus carcassonne market — asparagus at the Carcassonne market

We’ve been eating it for years and I’ve never considered preparing it any other way, I like it so much! That is, until I ate Philippa’s oven-baked asparagus.

Philippa and her partner John have a winery here in the Minervois – Hegarty Chamans – where they make a great range of organic and biodynamic whites (I love their Marsanne Roussanne!) and reds. Their philosophy of how they make their wines follows into the kitchen. Philippa is an amazing cook and meals there are a real treat. It’s like a celebration of fresh produce (often from their ‘potager’/ vegie patch), colours and aromas. There’s no messing around, just simple, pure flavours blended beautifully together. And it all feels so healthy! (if I leave my wine consumption out of the equation). This dish in particular is a beauty. Thanks Philippa, I’ve been hooked ever since you served this entree of asparagus!

asparagus-post-cooking1

Philippa’s Oven-Baked Asparagus

(Yum! and great served as an entree…)

ingredients:

2-3 bunches green asparagus

olive oil

a good cup full of grated Swiss Gruyere (my favourite cheese EVER) or Parmesan

3-4 dried chopped dried chillies (or 1 or 2 fresh – very hard to find around these parts!)

salt and pepper

method:

chop the ends off the asparagus spears (I never really peel the ends), then rinse and pat dry in a teatowel

pour olive oil into bottom of a good heavy baking dish and swirl to spead the oil

place the spears, then top with the cheese, then the chillies, drizzle more oil and then add salt, pepper to taste

bake in moderate to hot oven (in my old gas oven I cook them on ‘7’) for 30 mins ( or for however long you want, depending on how much crunch you want to leave in the spears)

Et voila! so simple and so delicious!

Kat xoxo

…and a note on the wine! Asparagus is a difficult thing to match with wine. But if you really can’t resist, go ahead and eat them with a dry but fruity white… Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris

Spring has sprung

May 30, 2012May 31, 2012The vigneron's wife

bouquet de bruno — Bruno’s freshly picked bunch from Caunes – check out the size of those irises!

It’s so warm here right now and after all the rain we had in the last couple of weeks –

a wet wet road — gloomy and grey – but we needed it

– the landscape has switched into overdrive with growth and colour. The vineyards are looking very happy with their new leaves and once again, as far as the eye can see in the Minervois, the vision is GREEN!

vines with Pyrenees in background — vineyards on the route to school with the Pyrenees in the background

vineyards across from our house — the vineyards across the road from the house

‘I love this time of year!’ I can hear Benjamin saying this at least 100 times a Spring – for the last 15 Springs. Like I’ve said, it’s quite something to experience the onset of Spring in France. So much excitement and promise after all that cold! Such a contrast – something I never fully appreciated in Adelaide’s mild climate.

Yes, Spring has well and truly sprung and I want to share some of the sights around here with you.