Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and so doing also shake a small, perfectly formed bird’s nest out of its tree, and on to the lawn. It is abandoned, but lined with the unmistakable white hair of Bacchus, our much-loved and mightily-missed darling of a labrador dog, and a few copper-coloured feathers borrowed from our three French hens before the fox got to them last month. A real memento mori, worthy of enshrining or embalming. In the meantime, it sits on the kitchen table, a reminder of the companionable and collaborative souls who cohabited our little universe.
The neighbour said that the rain during the phase of the new moon meant we would have two weeks of it. Rain, that is. And rain we have had. Some sunshine too, but by mid-month, the rain had the upper hand. The vineyard grows well.
Thursday 6 May
A day to go down in the annals of Rives-Blanques. Jan père et fils set off for London via Calais, the first and most momentous trip anyone in this family has done anywhere for ever.
Friday 14 May
Jan still in a state of shock having realised that the extremely nice and charming family tasting our Chardonnay with such polite and intense interest and obvious expertise was actually the X… family, undisputed kings of Burgundy. No, not king, emperor maybe. Or even God, perhaps. Of Burgundy and vineyards much further afield as well. All over the globe, actually – though of course Burgundy is the holy grail for Chardonnay growers. And they were so incredibly and impressively vigneron and down-to earth as well. Jan took them on a shortened tour of the vineyard with a degree of embarrassment: the back seat of the ancient Land Rover had frozen itself into the down position, so the sons were obliged to arrange their long lengths over the back of the car. « Don’t worry » says the pater familias, « we’re driven around in Porsches and Mercedes all the time »… and no, we didn’t do the image of Languedoc in the eyes of Burgundians much good.
But it was a wonderful moment for a small vineyard like us to receive winegrowers of this stature, who come out of interest to taste the Chardonnay of Limoux.
Sunday 16 May
Today I saw the first wild orchids of the year. The ugly ones, and the beautiful ones. And this one is the one that’s actually on the label of our 2018 Dédicace, as a dedication to Nature 2000, the European programme that helps up protect our biodiversity.
Monday 17 May
The news breaks today that the very-same Dédicace (chenin blanc) but made in the following year, has been chosen as one of the 100 top wines from the Languedoc and Roussillon in the UK, by a very high-powered panel of jurists, chaired by the estimable Tim Atkin, MW. This gives us a free seat at the London International Wine & Spirits Fair, which kicks off today. It’s our first ever digital Wine Fair, so we wait with interest to discover the virtues – or not – of this format.
And in the meantime, are really enjoying the kudos of being included amongst the best of what the region has to offer.\
Tuesday 18 May
Oh, we do love lovely tasting notes, and none are lovelier than those written by the inimitable and un-imitatable Tamlyn Currin of Jancis Robinson.com. Wow! Wonderful to get a pat on the back that is so eloquently and poetically expressed… and so much better than the physical equivalent, actually. Of course we’re over the moon that our Odyssée (chardonnay) was rated at the very top of the region’s white wines, while at the same time being identified as a force to be contended with in the world of sparkling wines… really, just what the doctor ordered after these dark days.
Wednesday 19 May
Somewhere out there, there’s a very stupid Springer Spaniel chasing a very clever hare.
What a beautiful evening. And what a beautiful day we had: cool and crisp, with sunshine. Recipe for happiness. Particularly for Benson, the hapless Spaniel.
Even if the hare gets away (which it does).
Thursday 20 May
Excuse us for blowing our own trompette, but we were blown away by this Chardonnay 2008 which we opened last week to taste with that Chardonnay nobility who
came by, and then forgot all about.
Clean as whistle, clear as a bell. Rich in fine fruit, balanced by brilliant freshness. In fact, fresh as a daisy, or maybe as a snowdrop might be a better analogy. Just absolutely irresistibly delicious.
Wish I could age half as well.
…/to be continued