wine – Page 8 – The Vigneron's Wife

Out in the vines this morning

August 26, 2011August 27, 2011The vigneron's wife

There was a beautiful orange glow lighting up our room early this morning and I couldn’t wait to get outside to see what the garden and it’s adjacent vines looked like in that light…

It’s nearing ‘les vendanges’ (harvest time for the grapes – or vintage, as we say in Australia) and it looks like it will be about a week early. The grapes are all looking pretty good (those night visits helped!) and Benji’s only 3/4 stressed. What you see above are bunches of ‘Syrah’. Some of our friends have already started on their whites here in the Minervois, but our red grapes here probably have another week to go before the chop! My days of picking are long gone I’m sorry to say. Darn that back. Everytime I see the pickers out in the heat with their broad smiles, sticky and dirty hands, having a laugh with each other, I get so nostalgic! I never realised how much fun and satsfaction I’d have from finishing a row – finishing a whole vineyard! – with a team. I was only beginning to learn French and so a lot of my time in the row was spent listening to mad, sun-induced conversations I had little or no chance of undersatnding, kind advice from a few of the pickers on how to learn French in Three Easy Steps, or being asked to rattle off sentences out loud to everyone, whose meaning I had no idea about, with hysterical laughter greeting them. They’d ask me to repeat these word for word to ‘the boss’ at home, and then I would know what they meant!… Sentences full of ‘gros mots’ (what the lttle ones call ‘swear words) apparently!

The only thing I couldn’t bring myself to doing was guzzling down the red at lunchtime. How did they do that? You stop for a very LONG 90 minutes (these traditions of meal times must be respected. Geez, in Australia it was a brisk 30 minutes), and then get going again in the full force of the afternoon heat, to finish at 5pm. Most people were very un-Anglo-Saxon and would have just the one glass, but some of the guys would go crazy! I’d look over at the red faces with red in their bellies and wonder how they kept standing, or kept from snipping their fingers. My lunch break was a much less festive affair: lunch with a spectacular view, a very petite conversation in the French that I had, and then a long nap in the vines. Not much else to do out there. But it was so much fun.

A lot of people are already proclaiming that it will be a good year, but it’s hard to know until everything is safe off the vines! Fingers crossed.

The garden looked pretty happy too this morning:

a Naked tasting… time for some wine

August 24, 2011August 30, 2011The vigneron's wife

cadavres on the table — 'cadavres' (what Benji calls empties) on the table

Thought you were going to see a cheeky image of naughty bits??

Sorry, no, it’s Summer and this is often what our table looks like the morning after…

Glasses are cleared but the bottles are waiting to be packed and emptied at the village recycling bin (and how the old mesdames and messieurs of the village, seated on their bench, must love counting how many wines that Aussie girl manages to consume).

one of my favourite postcards! — ...well it's not exactly the 'dames du village', but one of my favourite postcards. Can't bring myself to asking the real local ladies if I can take their photo!

It’s now past the middle of August and I can’t believe how quickly Lilas’ school holidays have passed, how many interesting people have stayed or called by, and how much wine and food we’ve consumed. It seems like a non-stop degustation here sometimes, with the Beroccas coming out first thing in the morning, but things will certainly slow down now that ‘les vendanges’ (harvest time) are approaching and Benji prepares the cellars for receiving grapes. Soon he’ll be working a seven-day week and mostly absent from our daily timetable. It’s an intense time until all grapes have been picked and are safe in the tanks or going through the press, so it’s good to make the most of it with family and friends time in this heat.

The bottles photographed above are the empties from an evening with some of the ‘Naked’ crew. Joe from Naked and is family came to visit, one warm and windy night and an informal tasting turned into a bottle fest (with Lilas and the kids meanwhile transforming the living room into a Playmobil playground) with everyone trying the whites and reds from Benji’s range together with local cheeses, bread and mountain lamb (big merci to our friends Vincent and Isabelle who were staying that week and gave us a huge help in the kitchen – the bbq’d lamb was a treat!). It’s always great to meet new people around a table of wine, glass in hand and every Naked tasting we’ve had has been full of laughs with interesting people from all parts.

a Naked tasting at home. Thanks Joe, Anna et al!

Benji's labels for Naked — The prototypes for Benji's Naked Wines range - a collboration between Vincent and Nick

You’re probably wondering what on earth Naked is. It’s a company in the UK called Naked Wines and Benji makes and sells wine with them. It’s been just over a year since the collaboration started and we’ve met so many great people – customers and other winemakers – and had lots of fun tasting the range over dinners, lunches and informal evenings like this one. I know it sounds like a plug – and it is! But seriuosly, all puns aside, it is an energetic company run by young people with enthusiasm and a love for wine, and fuelled by a community of customers – people buying and tasting wine from anywhere in the world and then sharing their experiences online. Benji’s range has done well and we’ve learnt a lot from the forums and the feedback people have offered. Thanks to everyone, Rowan, Joe, Amy, Sam, Fran, Simon, Frankie, Kevin, everyone, for the ride so far!

how do you boil a bloody egg?!??

July 22, 2011November 5, 2012The vigneron's wife

Scene – The kitchen, somewhere in rural France. Table set for lunch, wine open and salad ready for tossing

‘Who wants an egg, and how do they want it ?’ I shout over the vigorous conversation of the happy crew who are finishing off the last of their aperos and picking what’s left of the olives out of the bowl.

Orders are noted – soft, almost hard, soft – and I place the six eggs in the pot of water, place it on the stove and light the gas.

‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING ???!!!!???’

‘I’m making the eggs,’ I reply calmly, blowing out the match.

‘You’re What ??!??? You do NOT boil eggs like that. They need to be placed AFTER the water has boiled!!’

‘But (I say, hand on aproned hip, beginning to think that this coversation could take some time) I’ve always boiled eggs like that and we’ve always enjoyed them .’

‘No I do not think so. Like I said, that is NOT how you boil an egg. You can never boil an egg like that. It must be placed in the water only after it is boiling and then you must time it!’

At which point family member no. 2 adds :

‘Oh yes, that is the ONLY way to ever make an egg. It is nonsense to try it any other way. I have never heard of boiling an egg in this way.’

Okay, so I’m outnumbered in my own home.

‘What is all this about ?’ enquires family member no. 3.

‘Why can’t she just make an egg how she wants to ? …Actually, I must say that I haven’t ever heard of this method myself, but maybe it could work ?… We could give it a try ?…’

‘You really believe that ??!!!!???? But surely you are not being honest ! You have never seen eggs made like that, why would you say it is okay ??!!??’

Glad to have the vote of confidence, I soldier on with my defence that I’ve always done it this way, place the eggs in the water, bring it to boil and continue boiling for 3-10 minutes, depending on how soft-hard you want the egg, and that it’s always been successful.

But I don’t think I’m being heard. The conversation has turned up a notch and way past my comprehension.

Full-scale war you could say. And the time is 12.17pm.

It’s all on, men vs women and I’ve turned off the gas.

Family member 3 seems to be continuing valiantly in my defence but I’ve completely lost track of the ‘discours’ and am losing interest in the eggs. If they want eggs, they’re welcome to it. I’m not cooking them.

Suddenly the noise has lowered and family member no 1 is firing up the stove and asking how everyone wants their eggs.

Would I like a glass of red ?, family member no 2 gaily asks me ?

‘Why yes, I’d love one !’

Bon appetit

Morning walk

May 23, 2011October 12, 2012The vigneron's wife

“folle avoine” (wild oats) growing above one of the old dry stone walls on my walk this morning

Some views from my morning walk today.

It’s hit 30 degrees this afternoon – in the month of May!?! – so I’m glad we headed out at 9am when although it was already bright, the air ws cooler. It’s going to be a hot one this week!

This heat has put all of nature into overdrive and the vineyards are accelerating very quickly – almost too quickly. Moderate temperatures and cooler nights allow a slower and more steady maturation, with good acidity and flavours in the fruit and a harvest (‘les vendenges’) in September. What you don’t want to be doing is picking two-three weeks early (here that’s August) after accelerated growth. Let’s hope it cools down a little!

my husband's favourite flowers! — wild leek flowers

chamomile — there’s a lot of wild camomille out right now

A night with La Clape

May 13, 2011August 25, 2011The vigneron's wife

It’s that time of year already… everyone’s thinking of summer. Trips to the beach, trips abroad, no school, hairy legs to shave, and umpteen outdoor bbq’s with friends, food and wine.

The lead-up to the harvest, after the big risk period for frost has passed (phew, it’s around now and looks like we’re ok), is a relatively easy-going time in the vines. They’re growing with hopefully enough rain and a lot of sun, and have a few organic treatments here and there etc. Sounds like an ideal summer!

But this is the time Benji begins to stress.

In his head he’s organising the entire lead-up to the harvest and beyond and no-one knows what the weather will do, and how the fruits will develop. There is the cellar to organise, extra work to take on filling in for those taking summer breaks, and prevention of disease in the grapes. Any rainfall during this hot time can be dire.

As I said, this stress is cyclical. And sometimes it’s hard not to take it personally!! Ever had an argument about the ‘correct’ way to boil an egg? (although we ARE in France…).

So getting away last Friday night to the beautiful ‘La Clape’ area was a perfect way to switch off for 24 hours.

La Clape (yes, fair share of commentary) is a lovely seaside wine region (15 00 hectares of vines within the Coteaux du Languedoc apellation) not far from Narbonne. From the town you take a spectacular, windy drive through the rugged hills of Le Massif de la Clape and there’s always a huge gasp of pleasure and surprise when the Mediterranean greets you on the other side. It’s been years since we did this, but it’s still as beautiful and ‘sauvage’ as ever.

We were headed for a gite not far from the beach in St Pierre La Mer, Chateau d’Angles (so lovely, thank you!) and arrived just in time to join our friends for the ‘aperos’. Vanessa’s hot homemade pesto, cheese and tomato pastries were fantastic and went down beautifully with the local white.

Then it was down to business, the men got tending the bbq (sound familiar?) and us ladies fed the kids who’d been on the go ever since we arrived.

Yum! There’s nothing quite like a fresh seafood platter. We ate a blend of raw and bbq’d delights collected from the nearby ‘poissonnerie’. I must admit the seafood platter was half the reason I’d been so keen to come!! Absolutely delicious – you can’t beat the mix of garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice, aioli, and burning wood with clams, ‘bulots’ (whelks), prawns, ‘couteaux’ (razor clams) – I could eat like this everyday.

Top it off with a crisp, frsh white or rose and it’s heaven! We followed the local white with a Muscat Sec and then a bottle of Benji’s delicious Viognier. I wasn’t sure about the mouth of the muscat at first. Dry muscat is a strange one sometimes, the nose is so inviting and floral and sweet and then the mouth seems dry and short. But this opened up beautifully. Benji’s white, as always was floral, crisp and fresh. These whites were great mates for the seafood.

Dinner ended being a casual, straight off the barbie affair. No set seating, just constant ‘aller-retours’ with everyone taking turns bringing new dishes to the table. I like this way of eating at the beach. No fuss, just enjoying each other’s company and each new wonderful flavour. As the light dimmed we got out the camper lanterns and popped the kids to bed. Ready for another white!

And a quick plug!… we had an abundance of ininvited mosquitos joining us and the good old Aussie products of Rid and Aerogard came out in force. Must say that the Frenchies were quite impressed with how well the stuff worked!

Like happy campers (and a happy winemaker), we all headed for bed in the fresh of the night.

A day of collecting to follow…

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