Monday 1st September to Sunday 7th September
Author: Jack
Well we’re on our own again, Beck and I, although only until tomorrow when Granddad arrives for a three week visit. I have trouble deciding what to do today as I have the pressing issue of counting all the vines to attend to (I should have finished this by now) or the start of the ironing mountain. Decide ironing mountain can wait but I realise nevertheless that I’ll have to spend the day pegging out and bringing in all the washing! Oh well. So once Beck is at school and washing out I start the counting again. I am very happy doing this – it’s lovely to be out there again and it gives me a chance to see how the vines are doing. In the main they look extremely healthy and there is no doubt that we have plenty of grapes! Eventually though I have to stop and sort out a few things in preparation for Granddad’s arrival tomorrow. And I have to take Beck to her French lesson. We have only just returned from there when Jose arrives. It’s always a pleasure to see him and as per usual we open a bottle of white wine (he always asks for a ‘petit blanc’ but it usually ends up ‘grand’!) and spend the next two hours discussing various aspects of the vineyard and the role he will play in future. Meantime Beck patiently waits for me to get her supper ready and eventually gets to bed far too late! Not that she minds too much.
I decided that prior to picking up Granddad I would visit my now favourite haunt in Bordeaux – IKEA! I am fed up looking at black windows in the evenings and feel desperately in need of adding some curtains to at least make the place feel a little more homely. I had hoped to find some ready made curtains that would be suitable but no such luck. However managed to acquire the curtain rails and some material to make curtains for the kitchen and the bathroom. It’s a start. I spent longer there than I realised and arrived at the airport 5 minutes after Granddad had emerged from baggage reclaim to find him sitting waiting for me! Oops. Fortunately he didn’t mind. And so back to La Legue and time for him to settle in.
Tuesday should have been swimming day for Beck but it turned out that she wasn’t allowed to go swimming because I hadn’t furnished the school with proof of our ‘responsibilite civile’. It seems that when you take out your house insurance you can get an attestation to prove cover for third party liability. I need to get this from the insurance company in Eymet – another trip there is required. Mind you it’s a lot easier than having to make phone calls and then hoping that the document arrives in the post.
Wednesday September 3rd – a red-letter day for us - the start of our harvest. As Beck didn’t have school today I was still mooching around in my pyjamas at 8.15 when there was a knock at the door. It was Nelly to tell me they were about to start harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc! Oh my. We rushed around trying to get ourselves organised and were out there as soon as we could be. Not that we had anything to do. The machine had arrived along with the tractor and trailer that would be taking the grapes to the cooperative for us. All we had to do was watch and take loads of photos. It was a gloriously sunny day, clear blue sky not too hot, around 25 degrees, perfect for harvesting. The machine used to harvest the grapes is absolutely amazing. It is huge, straddling a row of vines with ease, with paddles that bash the vines making the grapes drop onto conveyor belts each side of the row which then deposits them into two giant hoppers at the back of the machine. These are then tipped in to the waiting trailer. The machine makes a huge noise. It is remarkably effective and in the main the vines are left intact, although occasionally a wire or post is broken and if badly driven the vines can be damaged. We watch in awe as vast quantities of grapes are tipped into the waiting trailer. It takes just over four hours to harvest three hectares, a job that would take about ten people three days to achieve by hand. In all four trailer loads are taken to the cooperative. We go and watch what happens to them at the cooperative. There is a long queue of tractors waiting to unload their harvest. When our turn comes the trailer is backed up to a huge crushing machine and we watch our five tonnes of grapes being tipped in. The quantities harvested are enormous and hard to imagine. A sample of the juice from the grapes is analysed for potential alcohol, the grapes are weighed, the quality of the grapes is assessed and we are then given a ticket as proof of delivery. This I am told is extremely important and on no account should I loose the ticket! In total we deliver 17,845 tonnes of Sauvignon Blanc with a potential alcohol level of around 13.6 degrees, which, as a result of the very hot weather, is higher than normal. The quality assessment given is the highest possible. Fantastic, and Granddad is delighted, as he had particularly wanted to see the harvest; his visit couldn’t have been more timely.
On Thursday I went to discuss the options for financing the building of the chai with our accountant. His advice was to obtain a loan and suggested I contacted the local banks to discuss our project and finance options. Then back to continue counting vines. We are doing this to establish how many vines we have got, to understand how they are laid out, to determine where replacements are required and to try and identify weak areas within the vineyard. After three hours we finish counting in Treyti. This just leaves the four hectares in Matelin to complete!
We have to take fifty ‘échantillons’ (samples) of Merlot grapes from each parcel to the cooperative for analysis. I had taken a sample of the Sauvignon Blanc to the cooperative the week before they were harvested. I wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen. Caroline came with me and we timidly entered the lab. I had planned to ask what happened next but was too intimidated by the two other vineyard owners there who gave the pair of us some very strange looks. I just handed over the sample and left. It appears I should have gone back at the end of the day for the results. The analysis is undertaken to determine whether or not the grapes are ready for harvest, analysing both the potential alcohol level and acidity. Today I am more confident when entering the lab, handing over the samples and asking when the results will be ready. The results showed a potential alcohol level of 12.1 degrees and reasonable acidity. Harvesting will start some time next week.
As it was thundering all Friday morning I was forced to start making my way through the ironing mountain, just four washing baskets overflowing with the stuff. Not terribly exciting. However we had the evening to look forward to. We were out for a meal with Jonathon at a local restaurant. This was not as relaxing for me as it might have been as we had the company of Rebecca as well. She was none too keen on any of the conversations that didn’t involve her. Initially she cornered me, I was sitting opposite her, leaving Jonathon and granddad to talk. But then she realised that I kept drifting into their conversation so she turned her attention to Jonathon and engaged the poor man in a series of maths exercises! Whilst he was very patient with her I expect he’ll think twice about being invited out by us again!
Despite a late night last night I was up early tidying round before heading off to collect Iain for a ‘flying’ visit. This weekend he was trying a Saturday / Sunday visit. This gives him just 24 hours at the house! Fortunately the weather is great and he is able to have a swim. After lunch I have to go to the cooperative to sign some papers. Despite the fact that we bought the vineyard in March, and the fact that I had been to discuss this with them twice before, they hadn’t actually updated any of their paperwork. And now with some of our grapes in their cuvees they suddenly wondered who I was!!! I was home just before Iain’s PA, Lynn, and her husband, Bern, arrived to visit us! Spookily they had booked a holiday in Duras without realising they would only be five minutes away from us. When Iain realised this he invited them over for a drink. And drink we did, excellent evening…….
As a result we had a late start on Sunday. Not much time left, as we
had to leave at two for the airport. We played a few games with Beck,
had a quick BBQ lunch and off to the airport, once again!
