Wow, what a week!  Although I have been away from my blog I have not been absent from work.  In fact I have been working like a petit chien (or dogette as I like to say).  On Tuesday morning I asked “my boss” for the morning off to visit my new friends Kristi and Jean Marc Espinasse of Domaine Rouge-Bleu (www.rouge-bleu.com).  Jean Marc comes from a well known winemaking family in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and four years ago was fortunate enough to buy a home and vineyard in Cairanne.  He had completed his harvest with the exception of his oldest grenache vineyard closest to the “river” (more of an old dried up river bed) with the greatest concentration of galet (the famous stones of the region).  He has given this site the sobriquet of “Lunatic”.  I managed to arrive finally….a bit late as I actually got lost leaving the town of Courtézon which should be impossible as there are only three streets.  But if anyone can get lost…….

JM was already picking along with Jeff Mitchell (who was kind enough to take the vineyard photos as I left my camera in the car) from Minneapolis.  Jeff fell in love with Rhône wines many years ago and for a 40th birthday gift his wife gave him a trip to the area (hint, hint for those of you with wine loving spouses/partners).  One trip led to another and finally to the door of Domaine Rouge-Bleu.  JM and Kristi invite people from all over the world to help with the harvest and each year they host a motley crew of wine lovers who thrill at the experience.  Kristi, a talented writer, keeps everyone in fabulous food and good cheer (which you can read about and much much more on her blog , “French Word-A-Day, www.french-word-a-day.typepad.com).  After my short couple of hours of picking on a cool breezy (if the Mistral can be called “breezy”!?) morning we hiked back to the house for a lovely repast accompanied by the 2010 rosé.

Picking OVG at Domaine Rouge-Bleu

With Jean Marc Espinasse

Ready, Aim....

Shoot!

Our Hosts, Final Day of Harvest