vendage

Vendage

It's arrived!

This week has been pretty busy, P and I went to help with the Rosé harvest at the Chateux that belongs to the co=op and after that I've spent hours reversing with the tractor dreading this morning as it was going to be just P and myself after the president of the CUMA had gone to do a tasting. As it was I didn't have to do much driving and just took the tractor down through the vines to meet the vendage machine.

We have harvested most of the whites, although there is a small problem with the parcelle out the front as the lines are a curious and random mix of red and white. So for two rows of that I walked backwards in front of the machine signaling to Mikael when to turn the batons off.

It's hard to impress how noisy and mechanical it all is, so un-romantic, but it's still pretty amazing to see your grapes flow out of the back of the vast machine into the precisely positioned trailer.

I went up on top of the machine for a couple of rows. The cab has a glass floor so the driver can see where he's going and it appears to adjust in every direction.

Think I'll stick to practicing reversing with the benne!

Meetings meetings.

It's the count down to the biggest time in our calender. We've been to two meetings today, with Avril, thank god, and now feel more informed but still slightly apprehensive.

The first meeting was for the Co-op and was about when they are looking to come and do the vendage for various varietys. We had a tour of the cave and saw what will happen to it all. It seems like its all going to be a bit pot luck asa to whether they end up at ours for lunch or not. Basically they have lunch wherever they are at 1pm.

We then had lunch and went for another meeting this time with the CUMA and then Mr Baudin took us to see the harvester and we met Thierry's Dad and went to a Chateaux where the co-op rents some vines.

We've had a really amazing day, it feels slightly surreal to see your name up as a vintner and stand on top of the cuve looking out over the countryside above where, in three weeks of so, our grapes will be bubbling away.

Bring on the vendage... and please dont let me have to drive one of the tractors!

A good and useful day.

We met with our lovely helpful translator and the chief technical director from the Cave this morning. We learnt more in 2 hours than we have in all the time we've been here and now have a semi formulatedd plan for re-planting.

They're coming to do a soil sample after the vendage and we know we have black measles on some of our vines.

We have another meeting with another chap to join a CUMA on Friday.

Also today we've pulled down several fences and I knocked down a small brick wall with a sledgehammer, which in my head was done with more style and controlled sledge hammer weilding than was actually the case!

Then finished up with the weds night 6pm French class.

All good.

Hail

It seems that one of the things that a person with a vineyard dreads is hail and what did we have this morning... hail.

Admittedly not for very long and they were not very big but time will tell.

At least as P points out we hadn't trimmed the vines so they might have had a little protection.

Fingers crossed.

On the plus side,as a result, we have found a good useful website from of all places Michigan State University.

Some Random shots

Arghhghgh

Think I may have asked the bread man for some wood rather than a drink. Dear God can it not have the same alternative meaning as it does in the uk.

Aside from todays literary feux-pas I've made more head wind on the veg patch and tidied up. The kitchen now looks like our kitchen with all the pots and pans hanging off the tiles. The sitting room is now ready for Y.U's first couple of days. I really hope she likes it here and doesn't attack Mme Rond's baby chickens or the ducks. After a very confused conversation with her yesterday she seemed to imply that Dominique's cat never went after them... then again Destiny is built like a over-stuffed sofa and I suspect the chickens could out-run her. I also hope she leaves the swallows and the toads (who in my mind are easily remembered in French, "Crapaud"... sums up how I feel about them... "Oh Crap a toad!") alone.

Anyway P and Lorna are only a couple of hours away.... yippeeeeeee.

Mystery sheep

I came out of the front door last night and saw a car sitting just in sight on the road, where there is no need to stop. I ambled towards the road and there was a certain amount of shouting and then doors slammed and it reversed (again no need).

I wondered what was occurring but didn't think too much about it until the sound of about 1000 sheep moved closer.

A quick call to P and he told me that this has happened before. It seems that a collection of vaguely threatening looking travelers park their sheep (and on closer inspection several cows!) in someone's field or in this case under the poplars for 6 hrs or so and then move them on.

Gorilla grazing, who'd have thought?

Just as long as sheep don't like grapes we'll be ok.

Neanderthal arms.

I've been striming for days now and suspect, quietly, that my arms are now possibly several inches longer.

The strimer has a harness but being as I am pretty short I still need to support its weight, so on the plus side I'll have enourmous biceps on my extra-long-arms.

This week has been exhausting but I can now see the wood for the trees or rather the fruit trees for the weeds! Have discovered today, whilst strimming the chickens extensive collection of pens, that we also have an apple tree and some form of plum tree to go with the walnut tree, hazlenuts, peaches, nectarines, greengage and numerous cherry trees. How does one even spell strimmer, or strimming?

Tomorrow I plan to cycle to the Lac de Gurson to see if I can get a swim in.... not sure how the french are going to react to my swearing as I try to wrestle myself into my wetsuit, maybe I'll save that spectacle for a while...?

The journey! P-the-happy- trucker and C the not-so-happy trucker

Y.U asking to come too...

P the happy trucker....

C the not so happy trucker...

We're starting to get there slowly and some of the rooms have the correct furniture in them at least... others are still one big dumping ground!

P has cut all the vines and they now look amazing all straight and tidy looking. I'm now off to wrestle with the furniture in the spare room in time for Tigsy on Tues.

We're very lucky with our neighbours and this morning Mr Rond ambled round carrying a huge basket of veg for us, in return for the cherries that P gave him...

Right then more boxes, cardboard waits for no man and all that!

We're Here!

Well who'd have thought it all that time ago, we're actually here in the land of Vines.

It took a stupidly long time to get here and we are knackered and the vines are dictation our lives. The truck is still full of stuff but some of the floors are at least vaguely clean.

Annie and Dominique came round tonight and showed P how to use the scary cutting thingy. So tomorrow our vines will have a lovely new haircurt.

My french is STILL rubbish but find it is better after a gin or two, or at least I feel it is better.

P has been working like a train and it looks amazing.

Solicitors

I hate solicitors, or rather I hate ours. I can honestly say I have never happened across such a hapless bunch of lazy unprofessional overpaid idiots in all my life.

There have been a catalogue of imbecilic occurrences but the real high point was returning their call/ message on P's answer phone and the women said to me "Are you sure it was us that called you?"

Yes the point where you said the company name was a bit of a give away.

We STILL haven't exchanged contracts despite them having everything and I am rapidly loosing my sense of humour... coupled with the monster list of things to do, non of which I now feel is safe to do until we exchange.

And breathe...

On that note I'm off to work with people who a have a range of complex cognitive needs and who I would rather employ any day of the week.

Tractor Driving and other things!

I've been driving the tractor, I actually quite enjoy it although I do live in dread of turning too quickly and taking out a row of vines.

I'm also not tall enough to sit back in the seat and relax so have to stand on the pedals to make them work, maybe I need a cushion and then again maybe that's just too girly with the tractor and all!

All being well at 2.30 we should own the house, that's unless the notaire sees fit to delay for another vague and unspecific reason.

Its been a non-stop cycle of Dominiques mates turning up to remove things so soon we should have a better idea of what's being left.

Then we just have to hope that the sale of our house in England goes smoothly.

Tying in the vines

We've been tying in the vines for a couple of days now. The weather is beautiful and sunny and its quite hypnotic work.

I've been counting insects when bending my vines precariously, amongst much protestation from them.

So far:

1 big fat hairy caterpillar

1 green beetle

1 tiny ladybird

2 mating crane flies

a small yellow and black bug

numerous ants

I've averaging 1 break of a vine a day and its horrible when it happens and I feel like I must apologise most profusely to the vine for not giving it a chance.

We're meeting up with Helen, Dominique and Annie tomorrow to learn about tractors and answer questions.

Dominique managed to answer one of my questions earlier regarding the plastic under the eaves of the roof... the hirondelles poop... he answered with actions!

P and the strange gifts

P has been in France for 9 days now and estimates 2 more days of pulling out the wood.

He says that Dominique and Annie have been very kind and hospitable and Annie has been leaving him a succession of gifts. Every morning she has left him coffee and so far he's also had:

1 raw egg

some bacon

1 slice of ham

1 tomato

1 yogurt

1 pot of pureed apple.

Our estate agent has gone above and beyond the call of duty, letting P stay cheaply and cooking occasional meals for him.

All good...

RIP Lula

This weekend has been rubbish (and various other stronger words).

My poor beautiful Lula was hit by a car on Sat am, dragged herself home, I took her to the vets and she died in the night.

It makes me so sad, she was a very special girl and she adored me. I hate coming home and her not rushing up the path and climbing into the car shouting. I miss her not sitting on the bath mat whilst I have a bath, or rushing into the toilet with me. I miss her stomping across the floor to see me or sitting on the desk in my arms whilst I type.

I miss her.

I hate P not being here.

It's rubbish and I know it's not forever but I really hate P not being here.

He drove down across France on Sun and has been in the vines for 2 days now working hard, pulling out the dead wood.

Not long now until I go for a couple of weeks but I'm so fed up with not having a buyer or even a snifter of a buyer for this place.

Got a viewing tomorrow, will just have to keep our fingers crossed.

Not long now...

P goes to France this weekend, probably after football me thinks. He's going to go and tirez le bois, pull the dead wood out, and start the tying in of the new growth. Also a spot of, and he's really excited about this, tractor driving! I'll go out closer to completion day.

I'm a bit apprehensive as I'll be here with still no buyer for our house whilst he gets on with over there.

P has officially declared Lula as being better after she caught a mouse today! Mind you there was no actual viewing of the actual catching of said mouse but still she made sure it was properly dead. Many times.

We complete on the 29th April at 2pm and am both excited and terrified.

Only natural I guess... just wish wish wish we had a buyer here.

Still can't quite believe it.

It's still not really sunk in that we'll be living in France on our own Vineyard soon. I just really really want to get a buyer for our place here though. It's starting to freak me out a little how little interest we seem to be having, especially as we sold it on the first day it was on the market last time.

We already have visitors for France lined up which is so exciting, my aunt and uncle and then Dad and Linda... just hope I'm out there by then and I'm not still here waiting on the house to be sold...

Fingers crossed.

Is it wrong that I already have names for the mythical chickens...?

pruning...

before on the left and after...
inside the house that's going to be the gite.
me pruning in some extraordinary attire.
vines...

Taille the vines

As we are learning there are 3 million things we have to do and by certain times. Which meant that last weekend we went out to France with P's sister and our friend James.

Our lovely estate agent Helen met us at the vineyard and Dominique the current owner showed us how to prune or Taille the vines. He showed us several times and supervised our selections of which latte to leave, which to cut for next year and which to remove completely.

He then left us to it until around 6pm when he came out and marched down the row declaring "bon" "bon" "trop long" and snapped the tops of several and then invited us in for aperitifs.

Over the course of Fri pm to Mon lunchtime we pruned 9000 vines with another 9000 or so still to go. Dominique and Annie showed us such hospitality, clearing out the little house that is going to be the gite and everyday putting fresh coffee on and several bottles of wine on the table and indeed coming out on Sun am to help us speed up.

I hurt in places I didn't know it was possible to hurt! My pecs for example creaked for days and Tues application of alcohol gel at work was not a pleasant experience on my open cuts and scrapes.

It was lovely though, although hard work, to be among the vines, hear the birds and watch the deer ambling about.

So now we just need to sell our house here.... anyone want a lovely house in Hampshire?

It's taken a while and I'm greyer than before!

Its been a long stressful slog to get to the point where it's even safe to risk doing this blog in case of tempting fate.

Back in January P and I wen to France to look at a vineyard that P had found on the internet. We've been looking for somewhere in France for a considerable amount of time, about 4 years or so and we've looked at about 30 or so a couple of which we almost brought.

The Vineyard had been on the market for 6 months and had come down in price and typically now had lots of interest in it.

We went, we saw, we liked....

We put in an offer and it was accepted. I have felt sick and stressed pretty much continuously since.

The amount of paperwork involved in a french mortgage application is astonishing!! I had a serious falling out with the horrible woman at my bank and am now a big fan of filing things in a sensible and organised fashion.

To cut a long and VERY boring story short our mortgage has been approved, the currency exchange rate fixed and short of SAFER putting a spanner in the works it's ours!

Yikes.