french wine a day

Sécateur

                      Jackie, "Harvest Queen" 2005                         

Dear wine lovers,

This special edition is on the wine-harvest which our family attended last week-end in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A chronological photo album can be seen at the end of this edition and lots of videos (1 MB average - 30 seconds download per video) are available throughout this column so that you might get a sense of the ambiance of a harvest day. Enjoy !

An organized grapepicker has plastic gloves to prevent sticky hands and cuts. A good "sécateur"* is helpful for an easy cutting. This year was pretty simple since the quality was very good and there was no sorting to do with grapes. We just needed to be careful not to miss any grapes and not to snack on any of them, as they are a rare raw material there (Ok Maxime ?) Download vendanges_2005_4.wmv.

When the bucket** is full and nobody has come to empty it, you are allowed to shout : "Seau". Then buckets are put in big crates Download vendanges_2005_6.avi which will eventually be thrown into the crusher that leads to the tank Download vendanges_2005_1.wmv.

Picking grapes for two days is not so tiring and there is always the fun lunch and dinner breaks to look forward to. Lunch starts with the traditional pastis aperitif followed by barbequed sausages Download vendanges_2005_2.wmv. We drink rosé, white and light red but you have to wait for the dinner to get the Châteauneuf du Pape that will match perfectly with your Cassoulet. At the end of the meal, Jean-Claude comes with a crown made from a twisted vine to announce the "harvest queen". This year my little girl, Jackie, was unanimously elected as she worked very hard all day long Download vendanges_2005_3.wmv.

Jackie had, in fact, two celebrations (the second being her 8th birthday). For this special occasion, she was permitted to drink a small glass of Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1997 from Domaine du Banneret (sorry the website is only in French at this point), our family's vineyard where we had so much fun last week-end.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

*Listen to "Sécateur" : Download Secateur.mp3

**Bucket = Seau

See the chronological photo album of a harvest day in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Deeply Cahors

Dear wine lovers,

Lost between the Atlantic Bordeaux and Mediterranean Languedoc, Cahors* is no more than a compromise of these two very different types of French wines.

Cahors is a very pretty village which the Lot river crosses and with such a beautiful countryside all around this department. It is definitely a wine touring paradise, especially if you like biking (Download wine_bike_tour.jpg) or sailing (Download saling_on_lot.jpg).

If Cahors is a small village, it is actually a large wine appellation which produces this typical big rich red wine that some of you might be afraid to try since it can sometimes be pretty rustic. But winemaking has evolved and now permits keeping the density without having too many tannins in return. This might affect the longevity of the wine in the long term but at least, we can enjoy the fruit when the wine is young.

Château du Cèdre, Château de Lagrezette, owned by the charismatic and passionate Alain Dominique Perrin (who also manages Cartier jewelry) and Château de Mercuès which is also an outstanding Relais and Châteaux hotel are the most famous references. Less well-known but still with with quality and so much charm are Château de Gaudou and Château Latuc which are really worth the visit.

Grape varieties are Auxerrois (or Cot) and Tannat for the tannins and the depth, Merlot and sometimes Malbec for the fruit and to balance with smoothness**. Drink this wine with local dishes like truffles, foie gras, cheeses or roast meats to discover how two strong flavors can balance in your mouth for the palate's pleasure. And if you really want to reach the Nirvana with these wines, the only way is to come and taste them here.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

*Listen to "Cahors" : Download Cahors.mp3

**Smoothness = Douceur

To see Cahors on a French wine map (use enlarge icon to see it better) : Download Cahors.jpg