Vine
Manual labour comes to an end and solely the blue hues of slow and high wheeled tractors can be seen disappearing and appearing anew, thus underlying the relief…
Vine
Manual labour comes to an end and solely the blue hues of slow and high wheeled tractors can be seen disappearing and appearing anew, thus underlying the relief of the gravel rounded top. Harvesters are then called back in.
Our attention is turned to the skies mood swings, the August heat and light remain the main worry. The pluviometer is checked, the sunshine slots are questioned and the clouds, at times so dark that they may foretell hail storms or else strong furrowing heavy rains, are looked at with daggers, in the absence of a more convincing weapon.
The palpable stress is due to the wait of a glorious September that would redress a dark August, or inversely, a cool September that would freshen up a scalding harvest. Scrutinizing the sky remains the main activity at the end of summer, up to the great disturbance caused by a sudden, expected and choreographed energy. Impatience combined with anxiety is coming to an end… at last we are about to know.
Cellar
Harvests are already on the agenda. Servicing of farm equipment and teams’ schedules will be done before the holidays are due to start. Then the dumpsters, hoppers, destemmers,…
Cellar
Harvests are already on the agenda. Servicing of farm equipment and teams’ schedules will be done before the holidays are due to start. Then the dumpsters, hoppers, destemmers, pumps reappear and they are all submitted to numerous tests and are adjusted or updated if necessary.
Oenology university trainees coming from France or other parts of the world, are welcomed and informed of procedures. Teams’ schedules are refined according to the harvest time that, as we are starting to foresee, will be either short or long, depending on the potential sanitary tension. Everything is all set. And here, we are waiting while cleaning again and again.
RP
Visitors keep on flocking, more numerous on rainy days. The hustle and bustle is left in the Chasse-Spleen connoisseurs’ care, paraded under a scorching sun, generally discovering for…
RP
Visitors keep on flocking, more numerous on rainy days. The hustle and bustle is left in the Chasse-Spleen connoisseurs’ care, paraded under a scorching sun, generally discovering for the first time the setting of their favourite vintage.
The garden flowers suffer as a result of this heat. They resemble less and less the château’s old pink shutters. The grass is whitening and the air is lightening up. Vegetation is back in control while the gardener is away.
Representatives from more distant places come in to attend the frantic and hard-working Médoc show, and take at the same time some very useful indications regarding the potential purchase of the vintage to come.