Walking on Air!
Meet Ahmed, our former foreman who comes out of retirement now and then to help with the important things in life, like planting the poles that support the wires that support the young vines that were planted this Spring…
People ask, “When’s your quiet time?” – and we still haven’t found the answer. But it’s not now, that’s for sure: Spring pushes us to step up the planting, ploughing, trellising, weeding, cosseting and caring for the vines as they break into bud and begin their inevitable march towards the harvest. It’s a vulnerable time for them – and for us.
When we find that quiet time, however, we’ll be sure to let you know.
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In the mean time, we are not being quiet at all about the gold medal so wonderfully won by our Chardonnay, Odyssée, from the Competition of the Great Wines of France in Mâcon last month.
The silver medal given to our chenin blanc, Dédicace, by the International Wine Challenge is not amiss either.
And we’re also making quite a lot of noise about the 272 “Parker points” nicely distributed over three of our “beautiful white wines” in this month’s Robert Parker Wine Advocate: 90 for Odyssee 2014, 91 for Dedicace (Chenin blanc) 2014, and 91 for our top blend, La Trilogie 2013. We were invited to submit 3 wines only, so we are really rather happy with this result.
And very pleased too that the Wine Advocate makes no secret of “France’s best kept secret” : what they call “the undiscovered gems” from the quality vineyards of the Languedoc.
Wine Advocate Tasting Notes Here
But we’re making most noise of all about the high point of the month, if not of the whole life of our Mauzac, Occitania, when it took off on the wings of a song last month. Tasting Mauzac at 36,000 ft. was an utterly unique experience for us, and one we simply have to share – akin to walking on air, so to speak. I do assure you, the beautiful smile on the face of this lovely KLM flight attendant wasn’t half as big as ours … (please click on the photo for the video)
And that’s our news for now. And the best of it is that we have safely navigated this month’s perilous ‘Ice Saint Days’, which are renowned for bringing down the vines in the prime of their life. In fact, frost hit the Aude valley a couple of weeks ago, but did not cross the road to Rives-Blanques.
Spring is a busy time, and we may be back with more news before it is over. In the meantime, our very best wishes from the whole Equipe Rives-Blanques. We take this opportunity to remind you that if our wines are not imported into your state, you can always order them at cellar door prices from www.winevip.com
May 14, 2016