Eugenia Keegan

The French are a strange mix when it comes to socializing. They are very private and an invitation to dine at someone’s home is a true compliment and sign of friendship and affection. But they love to bavarder and therefore the town cafe is a marvelous source of camaraderie and information. The town of Maury is no different. Many people think that sitting around the cafe is a post card picture of sipping rose (sorry can’t do accents on this device) with a cashmere sweater draped over the shoulders, no socks and gucci loafers. BUT, at our cafe the look is more vineyard grunge. Virtually any working person in the village works either in the vineyard or the winery and after a long day in one or the other a cold beer is just as welcome. An evening at the cafe is one of the true delights of our little town. I start this short photo journey with a shot of Pierre the most generous and even keeled proprietor.

This year we had a fun group of Brits in town to intern and/or make their own wines. They added a lot of color.

It was time to head back to France and prepare for my return home.  This is always a bittersweet moment as I LOVE to be at home, and yet I LOVE to be in Europe.

My final day was to be spent with my wonderful French family, the Grangeons.  Of course Myriam invited me to lunch which is always so delicious and so en famille.

So I spent my last day exploring the AOC Banyuls/AC Collioure.  These wines are also made primarily from old vine grenache.  Banyuls is the sweet version, Collioure the dry.  We don’t see much Collioure in the states….but maybe, just maybe I should try to change that.  There is an incredible amount of acreage still supporting the old vines, and as usual on extreme slopes.

It doesn’t hurt that the area is near the town of Collioure which is absolutely off the charts lovely.  I guarantee that I will be staying there again SOON.  Truly heaven on earth.

New Territory?

In Sight of the Sea

South View of Collioure, Castle Above

Looking Northwest

Entering Town from the South

Climbing Along the Sea Wall

Art Along the Sea Wall

View from the Cafe, Final Evening, Final Glass of Rosé

So, what does this mean, the latest (or in the case of France, the earliest) harvest ever?  The season of the grapevine is like that of any other plant.  Certain conditions, in this case soil temperature, set off a chain of physiological events, kicking off the annual cycle of the plant.  This year 2011, we have had a cool, wet spring (as we did in 2010)  followed by a VERY mild early summer.  This past weekend, the final weekend of July, we had a string of days with temperatures from the high 70’s to the low 80’s, clear, low humidity, and a very slight breeze.  Perfect grape growing weather.  But this weather should have started a month earlier. Coupled with a cool spring and therefore a late bud break (first signs of new life) the whole cycle runs tardy.  For Oregon this means harvest (there is a formula that predicts harvest based on the flowering portion of the cycle, when the actual berries are fertilized and formed) should start around the last week in October and finish around the end of November.  One should assume that around that time of the year we will  have lower temperatures and rain.  So, can anything be done to facilitate earlier ripening?

Sadly, not much.  Solid heat for as long as possible is very important to staying on track and maybe pushing things along a day or two.  When the temperature is too high, over 95-98 ambient degrees the leaf surface is well over 100 degrees.  The vine realizes that it is expelling liquid faster than it can possibly find replacement H20 and the vine literally shuts down. Hot weather is not an opportunity to play catch up.

One technique that is frequently used however is leaf pulling or leaf removal.  Leaves on the east or morning side of the plant are stripped from the fruiting area that lines up along the lower catch wire.  This exposes the front side of the cluster to greater sunlight and opens the foliage to help lower any mildew pressure by allowing breezes to pass through the canopy.  This measure does not come without its potential of a downside however, most notable is berry susceptibility to sunburn if there is a heat wave. In my experience the birds seem to find these exposed berries a little more quickly as well.

Before Leaf Removal at Ribbon Ridge

After Leaf Pulling at Ribbon Ridge

So what do we do?  Drink a little rosé, do a sun dance, hit the river, and prepare for a late, potentially wet season.  Up until now, 2010 was the coolest vintage in history.  The reds are bursting with red/blue fruit backed by ripe tannins and juicy acid.  The whites are simply spectacular:  bright stone fruit flavors sparkling with racy acidity.   Another glass of rosé please.

Family vacations were not a part of my childhood and in fact, vacations were not much a part of my early life.  I feel a sadness about this and accordingly, they are now an annual fixture in planning.  And let me be clear,  I am making up for lost vacations now….and have no plans to stop.

Last spring when I made my pilgrimage to France, it included a short week in Italy with my brother, his Italian wife Cinzia, and their daughter, now nine, Giulia.  When I emailed Paul that I would be returning to France in spring, but sadly as this was now solely business I would not have the time to pop over to Italy, he took matters squarely in hand and volunteered his family to come to France.  We quickly settled on Lanquedoc and he proceeded to find for us what turned out to be a simply fabulous gîte.  If you are heading in that direction check out Domaine de Curé just outside of Carcassone.

Our hosts were Jean-Noël (American/Japanese born in Geneva) and his wife Agathe, who is French.  They found each other in Japan and after very successful careers decided to exchange the fashion and fame of Tokyo for a bucolic setting in the French countryside.  There are three units and with everyone respecting others’ privacy it was a delightful week with a blend of many social encounters.  We of course were the most rambunctious party (rowdy Americans, vocal Italians and a hot wired nine year old) as our neighbors were German (one couple in their late 20’s, early 30’s, and the other in their 50’s) with no kids.  One couple was returning for their second year and another for their 3^rd year.

Our week included a trip on the Canal Midi, the cité of Minerve, the castle at Lastours, lots of swimming, eating, and just being.  Giulia ran a series of snail races and repeatedly beat me at hangman. When we were not engaged in sporting events or intellectual sparing,  we watched Disney movies in multiple languages, and giggled a lot.  (Truly, the chipmunks in Italian are a riot!).

I arrived at 6:10, they arrived at 6:18, picture taken at 6:30!

After 10 1/2 Hours in the Car.....a Just Reward!

Locks Closing, Canal Midi

A French Fieldtrip: Biking Along the Canal Midi

Leaving Carcassonne

Brother Paul Relaxing....Playing his Daughter's Nintendo

Looking Out

Kids at Play

Managing the Snail Races

I noticed after publishing photos that I do not have any of Cinzia.  Giulia had a new super camera and was the official family photographer and only on occasion did I remember to grab my camera.  I will try to rectify this.  It would take only a flash to see that Giulia’s quiet beauty comes from her mother.  Her strong will and determination???

A spring trip to southern France is not complete without a visit to the holy grail of rosé, Tavel.  I love rosé and use every day as an excuse to refresh my palate. It truly screams the south of France, the heat, the Mistral.  For me a crisp rosé makes every meal seem like a vacation.  Certainly one of the finest that is exported is Trinquevedel and I made that my first and only winery stop.  The following week was mostly a vacation with family and a case of rosé was the perfect culinary contribution.

The town was cute, small, and set on a slight hill mandating lots of twists and turns. There were a number of very cute ceramic spouts around town and I was hoping that around noon they would gush with pink grape juice.  When that did not materialize I sat down for a tasty lunch of omlette forestière and the best frites I can ever remember.  They were cut in a different way which somehow left more area for “crispy”.  And naturally this was washed down with the local quaff.

The vineyards along the Route du Vin are expansive with rocky soils of calcaire.

La Maison at Trinquevedel

The Vineyards of Trinquevedel

One of Many Water Spouts

OK, Just One More

Vineyards Cover the Landscape