Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sophia and Ellie could feel the stress and were kicking up more than usual about going to
bed and other routines. Grandma Feely had been subjected to watching the
Les Aristochats
Disney film ten times but she was coping remarkably well, despite only seeing us when we
urgently needed food.
The next day I visited Monsieur Bonny with the broken pump.
'Are you sure the axel is broken?' he asked, knowing that Sean and I hadn't a clue how to
find the axel let alone tell if it was broken. I explained that we had a mechanic staying with
us.
The cost of repair would be equivalent to half a new pump. We had already spent too
much on this ill-fated machine so we opted for the new one but it would take a week to
arrive. We needed a second pump immediately to manage the wine temperatures.
'Ne vous inquiétez pas,'
(Don't worry) said Monsieur Bonny. 'I'll lend you the pump that I
use for testing refrigeration systems until the new one comes. I can do without it for a few
days.'
He bundled the pump into my boot and promised to call as soon as the new pump arrived.
I couldn't believe his generosity.
'Bon courage,'
he shouted as I waved goodbye.
The following day Lucille and I toured the vineyard while Sean drew the sémillon off its
heavy lees.
'I think we need to harvest the merlot as soon as possible,' she said. 'Vignerons on the val-
ley floor are already facing
une vraie catastrophe
.' When Lucille said
catastrophe
it was
serious. She had a harried look. This harvest was not for the faint-hearted.
'The grapes were damaged by the severe heat of the
canicule
. With the rain they become
swollen and split, allowing rot to set in. Look,' she said, pointing to some small freckles on
one of our most exposed bunches. 'The sunburnt spots are weak and burst easily. It's worst
for those vignerons who de-leafed.'
I recalled Cécile's sage advice not to de-leaf most of our vineyards, in spite of the debate
about it. De-leafing around the fruit zone was thought by some to aid ripening; but by de-
leafing you remove some of the leaf area for photosynthesis, which is the driver of the sug-
ar production - plus you allow the fruit to get sunburnt.
We toured the rest of the merlot vineyards tasting anxiously. The Garrigue vineyard
grapes were delicious, full and sweet. Those of Hillside and Cimitiére were smaller and the
bunches were more spaced than Garrigue, allowing air to pass between the grapes and con-
centrating the berries. There wasn't a sign of rot in any of the vineyards.
