Monday 22nd September to Sunday 29th September
Author: Jack
Unfortunately for Thomas the weather has turned overnight thanks to another thunderstorm. But at least it does stop and raining so we aren’t stuck in doors. Around 11.30 Becks school calls to say a wasp has just stung her and would I go to school to comfort her. Turned out she’d been stung twice. The wretched thing had crawled up her trouser leg and stung her twice around her knee. Her knee was pretty swollen. We decided that she should come home for a while and that she would go back after lunch if she felt alright, which she did thankfully.
Tom started to do some mowing for me but soon decided he’d rather be playing on the quad bike and abandoned the mowing. I took over the mowing. We had used the mower to mow between a few rows of vines, not a job that the mower is really designed for, as the ground is pretty uneven. However the results were very good and given that we don’t have a tractor I thought I would mow between all the young merlot plants in particular as the weed problem is most serious there. The results were pretty good. It took me about an hour to do half a hectare. It would be feasible to mow the whole vineyard this way, but I’m not sure if the mower would survive the ordeal! Still at least we can do some of it.
I had bought a self-assembly composter the other day and while I was mowing Granddad was trying to put it together. The picture on the front of the box showed a lady assembling it on her own. Well, after a great deal of umming and aghing about why he couldn’t put it together, he called Thomas and I and between the three of us we eventually managed to assemble it! I could never have done it on my own. What is self-assembly anyway? I’ve yet to buy anything that assembles itself.
Courtesy of Thomas we now have two TVs and two sky boxes fully operational. Seems a bit over the top when we don’t have a cooker that works properly, the lounge echoes from lack of furnishings, the back room has nothing but a settee in it, and we have precious little else here!
The head chef, despite the threat of a cantankerous cooker, once again prepares the evening’s meal. What am I going to eat after he’s gone tomorrow? Back to pasta I guess!
On Tuesday we collect another sample of Cabernet Sauvignon for analysis and drop it off at Berticot on the way to Bordeaux. Granddad is leaving today after three weeks, doesn’t seem that long. Tom comes with us as we have decided to eat lunch out on the way. Back home Tom decides to brave the pool, it’s now down to just 21 degrees, a bit cool but not too bad if you keep swimming and at least it’s beautifully warm and sunny again. Tom takes and collects Beck from her French lesson, as I am off to visit another vineyard about fifteen minutes from that is owned by an English couple to find out how they are managing and see if I can gain any useful tips. They are very welcoming and I spend a couple of hours with them, watching them working and discussing various aspects of winemaking. I’m sure we’ll keep in touch
Toms visit is all too short. It’s Wednesday already and time to
take him to the airport, via Berticot to collect the results of the
Cabernet Sauvignon analysis. The acidity levels are still too low and
we need to wait longer. After saying goodbye to Tom Beck and I go shopping
in IKEA once again; have been suffering withdrawal symptoms! I have
decided I need to attack the curtain issue with a vengeance and have
gone to look for curtains, of any kind. Unfortunately I was not very
successful! Back home later in the day I spend and hour or so discussing
the requirements for a soil analysis of the vineyard with a local company.
We are going to have samples taken from six different areas of the vineyard
to be analysed for their potential. This will then provide us with a
starting point for improving the soil and thus ultimately the quality
of our wine, which at this stage is a complete unknown, although the
grapes tasted absolutely gorgeous!
The Cabernet Sauvignon harvest was started on Thursday. However Joel only harvested the young Cabernet, leaving the older ones to ripen further. From around three quarters of a hectare we harvested 5.3 tonnes with a potential alcohol level of 14.9 degrees, the highest of all our harvest. This certainly bodes well for the future for us.
Iain arrived Friday for the weekend, just the three of us this weekend as visitor season is over for a while. It seems that tennis is now becoming a standard for us and we eventually manage to get an hour on the courts. Our winter’s supply of wood arrives today, courtesy of Jose who has found us the best value for money supplier. The huge pile of logs has been dumped t the back of the garage and Jose is going to come and pile them all up for us. He is such a help to us.
The weekend was one of trying to relax and enjoy ourselves. There is
nothing to be done in the vineyard right now, and although there are
loads of jobs to do in the house and garden, we decided it would be
a good idea just to relax and unwind a bit and enjoy being together.
We spent the day out on Saturday, taking in some of the local villages
further south from here and having one of those 11€ four course
lunches. I did persuade Iain to start putting up some of my curtain
poles on Sunday morning but other than that we relaxed, which was lovely.
All too soon though we were at the airport (my fifth visit of the week!)
and then there we were, Beck and I back on our own again! How are we
going to cope, no other company, and no resident chef? Think I’ll
open a bottle of wine!!!
