Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
up with him every step of the way. The tour had ended up double the distance of the usual
tour of torture and Chandra could still come back for more. I decided I wouldn't tell John
and Bullet.
We waited for extra ripeness in the cabernet sauvignon but it meant we lost a lot of the
harvest, far more than we expected. Ad, Chandra and I did a pass through the vineyard
taking off everything that had the slightest hint of a blemish. I was ruthless. Quality was
everything. 'If you have the slightest doubt, cut it off!' By the end of our pass at least a third
of the grapes were lying down the centre of the row. It was yet another blow to my finance
spreadsheet.
The day before Ad left, we dug the merlot out of the vats and pressed it. It was peaceful
and joyful, the smell of Christmas pudding as intoxicating as I remembered. When the
pressing was finished we prepared the reds to do their malolactic fermentations, wrapping
their vats in silver insulation bubble-wrap blankets to keep the heat in; a trick I had learned
from a neighbour.
Ad was part of the family and we missed him when he left. He took the measurements for
the terrace railings and promised to make them for us as a gift; it would save us thousands
of euros.
Meanwhile, Chandra set out early each morning, hoe in hand. She had made a list of
things she wanted to accomplish over her time with us, having taken stock of the place and
done an inventory of the tools. Her straw hat bobbing about the potager and surrounding
gardens was a comforting sight. The lawn was mown, hedges that hadn't been touched in
decades were trimmed, the shed was organised, the bulbs sitting in the shed were planted,
weeds removed; the outstanding beds of the potager were cleared, filled with compost and
worked, then neat patterns of Garrigue limestone were arranged around the herb beds, the
roses and the lilies. Slowly the potager was transformed. In the evenings, not content with
a full day of gardening, Chandra organised my cupboards and bookshelves or researched
plants for me to consider for the garden in the spring.
By the time Chandra left, Ellie was her best friend. Sophia missed her too and I wished I
could have her back every six months to put some discipline on the corridor of crisis.
With Chandra gone and the quiet of winter looming I needed cherry chocolate more than
ever but Sean had cut our shopping budget to nothing. For a while the harvest had been
all-consuming and I hadn't had time to think about economic reality. Despite the negative
economic signs which would have put any investor off, I felt a calling in what we were do-
ing and I was sure there would be a viable market niche for our organic wine farm and our
biodynamic wines in the future. The new whites were exceptional and the reds promising.
Our customers encouraged us with emails of congratulations and compliments. We were
becoming deeply rooted winemakers. We had to find a way to make the business work.
