Wearing my sales "hat" (even if I don't have any on me) visiting Lake Park Bistro, one of wonderful dinner events I participated to last month while visiting the States.
Dear Friends,
March is over and this month has been flying... Before my yearly US pilgrimage, I had to finish pruning, start plowing which constitute my farming hat. In the cellars, and with winemaker hat, I had to move the wines which had finished their malo-lactic fermentation and prepare our second bottling od Dentelle and Mistral red 09 which we will actually bottle next week.
During, these 2 intense traveling throughout the States, I wore my sales hat to meet with retailers, restaurant owners, distributors and all the guys who finally buy our wines to drink them. To do so, I had to wear my logistic hat as I planned this crazy trip with 12 stops in 15 days.
Back home now, it is time to wear my administrative-secretary hat as it was time to file for taxes and do many bureaucratic paper works. A couple days after, I wore my delivery man hat to some professional accounts in Marseille where I go once a month and group all orders to make one trip.
Vincent, Julien and Sébastien who helped me plow and hoe our young vines
Last week, I started with my farming hat as I needed to work our baby vines who need some care as weeks can easely suffocate them. With the priceless help of friends and their tools, we plowed the soil in between the vines and finished manualy hoeing.Then wore by deliver and sales hats as I drove all the way to Verona for a wonderul natural wine event with 40 cases of wine in my car to deliver on the way many accounts.
The machine takes most of the dirt (with the weeds) and the human finesh the work closest to the baby vines.
Time now to plan my next bottling. For this, I need to wear another time my logistic hat as I need to plan that the truck can be there on the right day (we always bottle on fruit days) but also that the empty bottles, corks, labels, caps and enough hands will be there. I also need to make sure I have enough room in my lilliputian cellars to store those bottles which need to store in accordance to when the wines should be picked.
Farmer, winemaker, sales, administration, secretary, management, deliver, ligisticks...are all the hats I have for running this small operation. If I surely don't get bored, I have to say that sometimes I feel a bit overwelmed. But when that happens, I am very fortunate that friends and family offer their precious help.
One of the many ladybugs found in the vines. Hope this brings good Karma for this 2011 vintage
And thanks to your wonderful support, our wines (which have now all docked to the US) will soon find their final homes. They are all quite delish so don't hesitate to check with our local distributors, retailers... clicking on this link. And if you don't find any near you, email me at [email protected] an we will find a way to ship our babies to you.
Cheers,
Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu
I always suspected that you wore many hats, Jean-Marc, and I've learned about a few more. I'm most impressed.
A couple of weeks after the wine-tasting and dinner in Washington, D.C., I made a return trip to pick up a bottle of your rose. I'm looking forward to a friend's visit when we will drink some of that, plus Mistral and Dentelle.
A bon vin point d'enseigne!
Posted by: Marianne Rankin | April 23, 2011 at 04:52 AM
You are multi-talented Jean-Marc. Can't think of a better person to be running the winery and tending to the vineyards. Looking forward to trying the 2009 wines!!
Posted by: Michele Kawamoto Perry | April 23, 2011 at 09:24 AM
Jean-Marc,
Doug and I were just thinking of you last night as we drank a WONDERFUL bottle of Mistral '08! It was so "delish" and the smell, the taste....it took us right back to Provence! Merci pour votre incroyable vin! We will always treasure our visit to see you and always know that we are only a drink away!
When something looks easy, there is ALWAYS a lot of work and many hats that go with it! However, please know that is doesn't go unappreciated!
I hope you are feeling well...I mean it when I say "A votre sante!"
Amber Hopwood
Posted by: Amber, Peoria IL | April 23, 2011 at 01:48 PM
Mercis for the update and cheers to you and all your helpers who create the wonderful Rouge-Bleu wines. It was good to see you once again in D.C. It takes a lot of love, dedication and the many, many hats - which you described - to make your dream come true. Congratulations for another successful year and best wishes for years to come.
Posted by: Pat Cargill | April 25, 2011 at 02:48 AM
Ah, so many hats and you wear them all well! We really enjoyed seeing you in DC in March. Bon chance with the growing season.
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