We had a busy day of harvesting on Tuesday bringing in about 25 tonnes of grapes, principally for our rosé Carpe Diem and red Terra Firma. For the rosé, the juice is drawn off from the skins into a separate tank, chilled to 10 degrees and then left to settle. Yesterday, after 48 hours, we blended the clear Grenache and Syrah juices in a chilled stainless steel tank and added the yeast. Now we let the temperature rise to 16 degrees and the fermentation will gently start over the next two or … [Read more...]
Harvest!
Here we are early morning yesterday ready to go for the first day of harvest. Yesterday we hand harvested the Syrah in Cru Vinsobres. The grapes are in great condition and now safely in the tank in the winery. We allow the fermentation to start naturally rather than adding commercial yeasts so it takes a few days to get going. Today we were meant to machine harvest the grapes for the rosé Carpe Diem, but the harvesting machine is broken down and can't be fixed until Monday so that has been … [Read more...]
The waiting is nearly over….
At the end of August we thought that harvest this year would be particularly early, but the first and only summer storm on 31 August marked a rapid change to Autumn. September has been unusually cool and that has dramatically slowed the end of ripening. Although cool the weather has stayed mostly dry so we have been able to leave the grapes to ripen and have just had to be patient! This morning has been the coolest of the season, down to about 6 degrees up here on the plateau, but now all of … [Read more...]
Testing times
Harvest is approaching fast now. The end of August was very hot - 37º - but we had a proper summer storm on the 31st and the weekend was much cooler which has slowed down the ripening a bit. We sent samples from all of our plots to the laboratory yesterday. It looks like we will wait until at least next week for the reds, but we may start with the harvesting for the rosé this week. We'll keep you posted. … [Read more...]
Success!
The 2018 wine guides came out this week and we are pleased to say that our 2015 wines feature in both of the major guides. Our La Dame Anglaise 2015 has received a star from Guide Hachette and four of our wines are in Bettane & Desseauve; the 2016 Carpe Diem Rosé, 2015 Terra Firma red, 2015 La Dame Anglaise and finally the L'Essential Vinsobres 2015 with a tasting note of 16/20. … [Read more...]
Veraison
Veraison is the name for the grapes changing colour from green to black. On the Cru Vinsobres Syrah the veraison has now finished and it's about half way through on the Grenache. In terms of timing this year looks a lot like 2015. In 2015 we started the harvest on 8 September, in 2016 it was three weeks later than this on 28 September. It looks like we will be early again this year so we have already started getting the winery ready. In a couple of weeks we will do a first maturity test to … [Read more...]
Doing well
This is the Syrah in Cru Vinsobres and as you can see things are looking good. The bunches of grapes have now formed and in the next few weeks they will start to change colour. Summer started so early this year, it seems strange to think that we are only in early July. Lots of hot weather still to come! … [Read more...]
Summer Sunrise
Summer’s here
As summer starts the vines are looking good. This shot shows the Syrah vines in one of our Cru Vinsobres plots. The weather has been very warm over the last couple of weeks and the vines have responded by growing strongly. Unfortunately the grass and weeds do likewise, but as you can see above we are beginning to get on top of those for the moment. There is still lots of work to do in the vines though and we are also busy preparing to bottle the last of the 2015 wines in 10 days or so. … [Read more...]
Hello again
It has been a while since I posted, so it's time for an update. As you can see from the shot above with the first early morning rays of sun falling across the Domaine l'Ancienne Ecole vines, they are growing well. No matter how on top of the vines you think you are in April, the speed of the growth of the vines in May and June, means that you are always running to catch up on the vineyard work and a flat tyre on the tractor didn't help! The weather is set hot and sunny for the next week so … [Read more...]
Le Mont Ventoux is ready!
Our new gite for this season, Le Mont Ventoux, has been up and running for a few weeks (see previous post), and now the terrace is also ready for the summer season. Perfect for relaxing with a bottle of Carpe Diem Rosé 2016. Also this week we have had a super write up for our wines and gites in Terre des Vins (article in French). … [Read more...]
Road trip
The vines continue to race away and are 10 to 14 days ahead of last year. Nevertheless we managed to get a day away on Sunday and headed to the spectacular Col du Rousset. The Col marks the southern entrance onto the Vercors plateau and the road which tumbles down from it to the Drôme valley is beautiful. If you are staying here on the Domaine a drive to the Col with a leisurely lunch is a super little day trip. … [Read more...]
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