VINEYARD DIARY
February 2010
15 February - Another clear, sunny Winters' day. The chickens are settling in well - we are averaging 2 eggs per day whilst they settle in; we hope production will increase as guests to our B&B love boiled eggs and soldiers!
We are well into the last third of this years' pruning, thankfully we've had very little snow so bad weather hasn't affected us or the pruners. This week we have several lorries arriving to collect orders - all prepared over the weekend. We're clearing more under-cover space near the wineries so that the wood store can be replenished - we're making the most of the trees felled during last years' storm. The very elderly farming equipment currently stored in the buildings will be sold off on the basis that "if we haven't used it in the last 6 years, it's unlikely we'll use it in the 6 years to come".
10 February - A clear, sunny day but with a bitter wind sweeping in from the Pyrénées. A good day to be out pruning providing you are wrapped up well against the chill. The new chickens arrive tomorrow so this afternoon's job is building a run large enough to house them and give them enough exercise space. Photos will follow soon!
26 January - Minus 3 degrees this morning but a beautiful start to the day. Pruning has started and will continue for the next 3-4 weeks. First stage filter is finished - a very messy and unpleasant job but luckily (this year at least) with pleasing results. The 09 whites are looking clean and tasting crisp and juicy. 9 January - Finally the snow has arrived so George is happy with his red plastic sledge, zooming down the steep slope where the vines end and the land we leave fallow faces the fishing lakes. Next week we start filtering the wines from the 2009 harvest so over the weekend we'll be setting up and cleaning down the filtering equipment in readiness. 6 January - Following a mild start to the year, the weather is now cold and grey but considerably better than other parts of Europe. No pruning underway as yet - we're waiting for many of the wires to be tightened so that the pre-pruning machine can go through the vines. Things are quiet on the export front - it's always the same at this time of the year so we are planning our events and exhibitions schedule for the coming months and of course taking care of property repairs in readiness for the coming holiday season.
13 November - the weather has improved slightly but the vineyard is still sodden. We are waiting for the ground to dry out so that we can take a look at what is left of our Gros Manseng and if there is enough left to harvest. The temperature has risen several degrees so that should help things dry up more quickly.
3 November - A really busy few weeks have meant we've not had time to up-date the diary for the month of October which sped past in a blur.... The exhibition in London went well but we won't be attending again in 2010 - too many large brands and not enough small producers like ourselves.... The weather since our return has changed from mild Autumn to cold, windy and rainy Winter - today we've had really heavy showers with intermittent bursts of sunshine. We were due to harvest the Gros Manseng tomorrow but aren't able to until the grapes dry out again.
22 September - Grey and foggy but cool so all in all, good temperatures for picking. We started on the Cabernet Franc at 8.20am then moved on to the Merlot. All the grapes are coming in really clean; purply-black in colour, with thin skins and lots of fragrant juice. The alcohol levels are good - just about where we need them to be. What a relief to have good yields - the last 2 harvests have been really low on volumes.
19 September - Two solid days of rain - really miserable. Cleaning out the pipes and equipment ready for vendange next week - we'll pick the Cabernet Franc on Tuesday 22nd.
14 September - Only days now until we harvest. On the way to school in Eauze this morning George and I noticed that the car park of the local Cave Cooperatives were full of little white vans and anxious looking men wandering around. The many growers who sell their grapes to the Cooperatives will be submitting samples of grapes to the buyers and oenologues at the Coops and awaiting a decision on whether their grapes are ready for harvest. For us, the situation is very different - Nick is 100% responsible for setting the date and deciding when each individual cepage reaches optimum alcohol and acidity levels and of course the perfect balance between the two. From the "prelevements" we've done so far, Nick estimates we will start our harvest with the Cabernet Franc on either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
Nick's trip to Spain was very eventful - not much in the way of sales; he definitely spent more than he earned.....not that he meant to...... It really is best to hear the story direct from Nick but in a nutshell, the registration plates on our new van (imported by the French dealer from Spain) were illegal so he was arrested, taken away to a police station by 7 armed Guardia Civil and later deported. The fines were pretty hefty as the van was taken by low-loader back to the French border. To quote Mick Fisher (the guy who arranges all our transport to the UK), "when they told you they'd show you some bars, I bet you thought they meant San Miguel". Yes well, we can laugh about it now.........
4 September - Today is "La Rentrée" when (at least in this region) children go back to school after the long Summer break. It's generally also recognised as the time the adults get back into the general routine of things. George was very happy to get back to school - he has really missed his friends and has had enough of Mum and Dad's company. We had a short, sharp rainshower this morning which made everything damp and gloomy for a while; the cloud hasn't cleared so maybe we're in for more rain this afternoon. The grapes are looking good - the reds behind the house are dark and still firm but beautifully clean, dense bunches of fruit.
31 August - The current hot weather continues (92 degrees F today). The grapes are ripening well and the vines are clean but we could still do with rain. Nick is off on a sales trip to Spain at the end of this week so we are busily re-stocking the warehouse so that he has some wine and Floc to take with him. On his return we'll start cleaning the winery and equipment for the harvest which (latest best guess) is scheduled for the 3rd week in September. 9 August - The first real day of rain for many weeks, whilst the vines could do with a short, sharp shower; we are already anxious for the clouds to go away as we've becomed used to blue skies and hot days. We've worked at 4 markets in the past 5 days - only 2 markets in the coming week though! The BIB machine is due here again on Wednesday as we struggle to keep up with demand for our latest venture.
26 July - 94 degrees F in Eauze today - our annual Fête des Vignerons. All the winemakers get together and bemoan the state of the market/the weather/the price of bottles etc. etc. and all the visitors wander round tasting wines from over 50 small, independently owned vineyards like Lauroux. A great day out for everyone (especially if you bring a picnic) but the weather this year really didn't help things - we couldn't keep the white and rosé cold enough and the reds were very quickly warm and soupy. We've had a really good stretch of hot weather for the past couple of weeks, interspersed with a couple of thunder storms but very little rain. The forecast is for the hot weather to continue. Things are looking good out in the vines - tiny touches of mildew, large bunches of well-formed, healthy grapes - fingers crossed things continue in the same vein as we are only about 6/7 weeks away from harvest.
17 June - Very hot today. Wire lifting continues despite the heat and intermittent rain storms. We are half-way through wire lifting or "palissage" and need to get finished quickly as every time there's a storm or high wind, we loose new growth and therefore grapes. Vineyards in the nearby village of Averon Bergere were badly hit by hail last week with the leaves shredded by the hail stones.
29 May - A stretch of good weather - yesterday was hot and dry and the forecast for the weekend is for more of the same - temperatures of around 85 - 87 degrees. Nick is out spraying today (against mildew), the rest of us (friends and neighbours) are continuing with de-budding - pretty gruelling work in the heat, bent double, taking off the excess growth. The sunshine is doing wonders in the vegetable garden - we now have 13 courgettes and 3 cherry tomatoes which are nearly ripe enough to eat!! The wines are selling well at our local market (Marciac on Wednesdays) and the holiday accommodation is busy due to the Pentecote holidays.
One of the few days of good weather so far this month - we are making the most of it and grass cutting between the vines. Next week we start de-budding as thanks to weeks of rain, the growth on the vines has been phenomenal. Last week we received the results of the judging of the International Wine Challenge - http://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/howitwork.aspx - the Oscars of the wine world.
Our Cuvee Confiance 2003 was awarded a "Commended" by the judging panel - we are over the moon that a tiny vineyard like ours has been successful in such a prestigious competition as the IWC.
27 April - Heavy rain yesterday so yet more floods inside many of the buildings - we are hoping that repair work will start later this week. Luckily outside in the vines we managed to get a mildew treatment completed on Friday of last week, just before the rains arrived. Yesterday it rained the entire day - today has seen no rain as yet but it looks as if more rain is on the way.
14 April - Days and days of rain and high winds - this is bad both for the vines and for the buildings which remain damaged following January's storm. We find ourselves at the mercy of the insurance companies who seem unwilling to part with money and settle our claims so we wait....... The heavy rain has caused flooding in the surrounding areas and on some of our woodland. 6 April - After a spell of mixed weather and cold winds, the last few days have been mild so we've prepared the vegetable garden for planting in between checking posts and wires. The weather today is sunny and very warm so walking a few km's in the sunshine isn't such a bad way to earn a living!
20 March - The good weather continues so we're getting the pool ready for opening, and planning the building repairs we need to do. We'll be starting the desherbage programme early next week so the tractors and equipment will come out of hibernation over the weekend so that the tanks can be loaded.
16 March - The weather is great - very warm and dry. We have only 5 rows of pruning left to do (the Tannat), then some tying in. We'll be packing orders tomorrow, then on Wednesday will start the many miles of walking through the vines checking posts and wires for damage. We know there's some tree damage from the January storm but there's bound to be some additional damage after the wet Winter.
26 February - The run of good weather continues (18 degrees today) so we continue to cut up and remove the fallen trees around the vineyard. Yesterday in the winery, the 2008 rose was first-stage filtered and the cuves cleaned. Next week Nick is off to the UK and when he gets back, we hope (roll of drums), to get the Moelleux bottled! 9 February - We now have power, water and telephones restored and are trying to get back to normal following the storm of 24/25 January. "Storm" is a real understatement - it was terrifying. Whilst the vines managed to escape damage - apart from a very small number on the ends of rows hit by falling trees. We have lost in total around 60 trees and are now trying, as a priority, to cut and remove trees which are blocking the pathways around the domaine. As many of the trees which fell were big, old oaks, it is no easy task - some of the very large trees will require specialist treatment. All of the buildings here; wineries, hangers, office, tasting room, gite and house were damaged. The middle photo above shows a 20m pine tree which fell on the corner of the house and slid to a halt on the driveway outside the B&B. A team of very nice (and efficient) firemen from St. Etienne came to our assistance, along with blue flashing lights, to cut away some of the tree and effect a temporary repair to the roof. We are awaiting quotes for the repair work - along with thousands of others in the region. Although Lauroux was damaged, we were very lucky compared to our neighbours further up the hill towards Sauboires. On a more positive note, the main pruning work is finished, leaving us just a few hectares which we will prune and tie ourselves starting next week.
23 January - The weather continues to be very windy with heavy rain - many of the surrounding farms on lower ground are have extensive flooding. The pruners started earlier this week and have made good progress but unfortunately were unable to work today as the rain is too heavy. 15 January - Still very cold but at least the snow has disappeared and we now have running water in the upstairs of the main house as the pipes finally thawed. No sign yet of the pruning team, we are hoping they'll be here early next week. We start pruning the Tannat ourselves on Monday so are hoping the temperatures aren't too low. We're also trying to schedule in a bottling of the Gros Manseng - our Moelleux or dessert wine which suddenly seems to be in great demand. 8 January - The year has started bitterly cold with a light dusting of snow - temperatures in the chai are between -4 and -6 degrees. At night the temperatures outside are dropping to around -7 degrees causing the water pipes in the house to freeze. The pre-pruning machine was finally able to get onto the land towards the end of December when the ground dried out a little so now we're waiting for the pruning team to get started. This year, for the first time, we will use a commercial pruning team for around 60% of the vines, pruning and tying the remaining 40% ourselves.
