We haven’t had such an awesome autumn in years: a jewelbox cramful of rubies, topaz, garnets, quartz, and glittering gold. The sky, needless to say, is sapphire blue. At night, it deepens into polished onyx studded with diamonds and a ridiculously bright moon made of rock crystal. You simply cannot get enough of it, […]
As if they know the game is up, all the vines are turning yellow and gold – a slow creeping fire that burns from the bottom of the leaves and works its way up. Autumn is a lovely time of year at Rives-Blanques, but as the month opens, it is also quite unnerving. For the […]
September marched in like an army on the attack: searing searchlights scanning a night sky thunderously full of rumbling grumbling. What a storm! The vines held their breath and scuttled for cover. This is emphatically not how we like to start a harvest. But again the gods were good, and Rives-Blanques got off scott-free. Only […]
Well, that was July, that was. The third hottest July in France since 1900, with less than half the normal rainfall. And now we are in August, contemplating our grapes and their impending harvest. They look great (touch wood). In fact, never seen such picture-perfect vines in all our fifteen years here. Beautiful, healthy, happy; […]
Canicule! The proper, state-approved definition is that this heat has to last three consecutive days and nights, with varying degrees of degree, depending on where you are. If you are in Toulouse, our nearest ‘big’ city, then it should be a minimum of 36 degrees by day and 21 by night for three days in […]