picking

Ambroise emptying 'la hotte'
Ambroise emptying ‘la hotte’

Picking at last.

There’s been stops and starts… and now it’s all GO to get the grapes in.

We’re harvesting three weeks later than previous years, but it’s shaping up to be a pretty good ‘recolte’ … there’s a charged atmosphere and smiles all round.

I’ll fill you in on this harvest over a few posts, but here’s a selection of pics from today, in and out of our village.

(you may note some ‘fx’ in the images – my dear old camera is on the blink so what you see are the results of lumping around with a clunky electronic rectangle)

woke to to the noise of the harvester outside the kitchen window
woke to to the noise of the harvester outside the kitchen window
tent-picking
tent-picking
checking out the noise... a tractor cruising down the driveway
checking out the noise… a tractor cruising down the driveway

picking 1

pick cal1
here comes the sun

cal pick3

empty 2

empty 3

empty 4

cal 7
house on the prairie

pick cal 2Meanwhile, back in the village…

ca 4

chat arnaud
clearing out remains of the ‘pressoir’ (press)

ca 3

the Vigneron having a spray
the Vigneron having a spray
...and the ladies are still out checking the 'raisins'
…and the ladies are still out checking the ‘raisins’