Fixin, pickin, tastin, pressin PRONTO

I've always been a sunshine girl. And man - o - man is the sun shining here! It's a little hard not to notice though, especially with all these people talking about wine and grapes. Yesterday Gavin, Jane and I went with monsieur Gambal for a final prélinage before the harvest begins. Essentially, prélinage is a random sampling of the grapes to check the sugars, pH, acidity and other measures in the juice. I did this with Alex a week ago by randomly picking 300 grapes per plot. Geraldine Godot, Alex’s new winemaker (who started Thursday), prefers to go by bunches: 15 per plot. I must say that while I’ve been here I’ve definitely been able to develop my palate. In one week Alex and I were able to talk about the change in the taste of the grapes! Granted we had two days of rain this past week (which means no photosynthesis and the possibility of mold/mildews).

Geraldine, behind Gavin, watches as they press the juice

lots and lots of grapes - this was only the first half!
I think we did 25 different plots~

“I want to convey to you how unusual this is,” explained Alex. “This is perfect weather. I mean, they’re delicious! Like table grapes! They’re usually so acidic.. This only happens during good vintages – 1999, 2005 etc.”

Sounds good to me :) And it truly is perfect for the grapes: cold nights, chilly mornings and warm endless sunshine all day long. About 20*C (68*F) was the temperature around 3 o’clock; my Mickey Mouse hoodless sweatshirt is perfect weight. There’s something about the sky here too; I swear it seems bigger, taller even. The clouds are plush and huge. You can see and feel the vast, spheric nature of the globe. Am I living in a dream?

Clos Vougeot
All day long, nothing but epic; they’re colorful, textured and in maximum, powerful shapes!

Evening walk back to school, right before the full moon rose.

As soon as I saw the big fossils of prehistoric shells at chez Gambal, it was my goal to find one. It’s really cool looking. And, guilty as charged: I probably picked the same amount of rocks as I did bunches today. I’m terribly interested in the geology of this place. Something worth reading about, essentially France was an inland ocean pre-glacier. During the glacial period the bedrock was all mixed up: In Clos Vougeot alone, I was able to find rose granite, iron ore, limestone and fossils. Check it out! The geological makeup makes the wine! You can taste the minerals and earth in the wine.

Some places the rock is too hard to plant; look where he's pointing.
He has about 5 rows right to the left of that space.

Other than my ever-heavier bag, we an into very little problems that day. In the more humid Bourgogne sections with nearby creeks and in a couple other plots there were odium patches. This powdery mold infects both leaf and grape, cutting off nutrients and ending in acidic, shriveled grapes.

But at least this time the car would start! (Last week, we were in Alex’s ’42 Willy’s WWII army jeep. If we didn’t park on a hill, there was some pushing on my part). Actually, today was the big day! At the end of our tour to the more northern grapes, we drove into Dijon to pick up Alex’s new Land Rover Freelander – yea baby!

I’ve graduated!
(photo of the whole group to come, left me camera at home)

School’s ended and everyone has dispersed to their respective vineyards. We saw some “dumb dumb dumb” (AG) people starting to pick up grapes already, but for the most part people will start midweek. People are coming in, and the cooks are here! We had a delicious preview from our harvest chefs (more pictures on Alex’s blog, link at the bottom of the page) last night and party with Dennis and John. Bar of choice: Le Bout de Monde, The End of the World. Yep, pretty much. Let’s just say, Sunday was a planned day of rest. Jane and I slept in then met up with her uncle David Shiverick (Burgundy importer) and Mary Taylor (importer and founder of Thoreau Wine Society) for a gorgeous hike in Saveny. (Check Jane’s blog for pictures, link at the bottom as well).

The last couple of days in class were very interesting. We were tutored on the process of making red and white wines in class then went out in the fields for a lecture on biodynamics. I have lots of thoughts on that, and not enough time. More to come! We visited Chateau Meursault (the Disney World of wine) and went to some really intriguing tastings. On the last day we went a cement factory. Bubbly is a totally different world. Yummy though!

What I’d like to mention was the most amazing tour Francois Fréres – a barrel-making factory. It was beyond explanation. A truly French factory if you ask me: the smell of toasted oak wafts on the saving French breeze, through the open windows and garage doors. The sound of loud steel hammers clamoring on the steel rings, the echo in the oak barrel and TRULY artisanal work happening right before my eyes.

heating it up, "toasting," to make the wood pliable

My first thought of course was my dear friend Pete, a wood worker at heart, I’m convinced. Pete, if you’re out there, there was a guy that would put pressure and a little bit of water into a completed barrel. He’d roll it around, and check for leaks. If he found one (sometimes in the long grain there’s an air pocket or a split) he’s stub the root of the grain by hammering a small wedge into it and cut the excess. It looked like he was working with clay. Disbelief. True craftsmanship. Jealousy.

Awaiting their 2nd shaping

They get most their 120-180 year old trees from the Office National des Forêts, a French Government-owned forest that was started in the 16th century! It all makes since. When not grown naturally and in high density, they grow straight up – no branches! This makes the grain in the wood vertical (instead of splintered, as you can find in the US or elsewhere) and thus tighter, and more leak proof! They respect the grain and must split it so they get about 20% of each tree, where as you can use up to 50% of US oak. Francois Fréres happens to be located perfectly in Saint Romain, a place that has enough space, rainfall, sunshine and altitude to season the stacks perfectly. Winemakers order specific seasoned, toasted wood based on how much they want those tastes in their wine. So interesting. One of my favorite places by far.




Work starts tomorrow. I’ll be putting up mostly pictures this week, some captions, some words but they will most likely be 15hr days, and won’t likely get to bum internet from the local hotel often. Phew it’s late. “Bedtime for Bonzos” as dad says.