Cedars Lost in the Storm
January 28th 2009, by GQ
We lost several trees in the storm last friday night, including the ancient and beautiful cedar at the farmhouse. It’s a great shame, and the view from the house won’t be the same without it. It’s going to be a hell of a job to clear it all up, and we’re already a bit behind with the winter pruning. The tree has fallen across the vines, which have just been pruned.
What’s strange is that I’d planted a little corner of different varieties for test purposes right here – chardonnay, riesling, viognier, chenin blanc, pinot noir, syrah and so on. All completely illegal of course under French appellation law* but the vines are clearly identified, ahem, as being part of the garden, not the vineyard. The huge branch has fallen right across the chardonnay. So there is a God, or at least one who’s on the side of the people who make the rules.
Storms batter Bauduc
January 24th 2009, by GQ
Last night, we had strong winds of over 150kms per hour gusting across Bordeaux and South West France. No real harm done here, but we lost several big trees along the drive and are completely blocked in. Our biggest worry with a storm and high winds like this is the huge cedar tree next to the château. We always bring the children down from the top floor for the duration, just in case it the worst happens and it topples over. The storm raged for what seemed all night.
Now where’s the chainsaw? And the tractor…
All Hands on Deck
October 15th 2008, by GQ
We’re bringing in all the merlot this week, so everyone’s helping out on the sorting table. Most of the time we’re removing any unwanted leaves or green bits, as we just want the fresh, ripe grapes going into the fermentation tanks.
So the children can cope just as well, as can Ronan, the former head sommelier from Gordon Ramsay’s, below.
Red Harvest in Full Swing
October 13th 2008, by GQ
It’s the week of harvesting most of our Merlot for the reds. The quality is surprisingly high with minimal rot, and I suspect that 2008 will be a far better vintage than we might have hoped for just a few weeks ago. This is the view of the vineyard at 7.45am, and it’s quite beautiful, with the fairly narrow, 1.5 metre wide rows of merlot we planted in 2002 in the foreground, and the sauvignon blanc down the hill towards the woods.