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Allô allô, Bonjour!
The tension is unbearable: are we going to real in a treasure this year? Or will we be ruined by a premature rainstorm. whatever the case may be, life or death, first an update through the 34rd edition of Slurp!
Allez, on y'f!
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Vacation! |
Beginning august the vendanges vertes were behind us. The Dutch pickers had repatriated to Les Pays Bas and calm had returned to the Chateau. There was little else to do but wait for harvest time to come around, which started Monday the 19th of September at 08:00 sharp... ish therefore we could sneak off for a little while. Not wanting to leave our vineyards unattended we decided to take them with us so we loaded up the old 2CV and headed for the Pyrenees so we could climb a mountain or two.
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What to do on holiday, Mode d'Emploi
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| 1. Cut open a plastic bottle to convert it to a wine cooler, scoop water from the stream and put the wine in the newly created cooler. |
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2. Stroll, after the tent has been set up, the airbeds have been inflated and the groceries have been bought, up the mountain and grab some wild thyme. |
| 3. Catch an easily digested starter. |
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3. Catch an easily digested starter. |
| 5. Go to the local store and buy a farmers chicken. Make an incision in the skin and stuff slices of fresh garlic, lemon and wild thyme under it. Fill the egg-ejection-tube with a good amount of thyme and plug it with a lemon. Make a fire and roost the chicken till it's a crispy brown. Afterwards let it finish in some aluminum foil for about half an hour. |
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What happens then is unparalleled by any other dining experience, the holiday chicken tastes so ravishingly good, that your life will be turned upside down and will never be the same again.
As of that moment you will leave every restaurant that has chicken on the menu disappointed. Never again, no matter where you go on this planet, will you eat a chicken that can match it. |
The wineyear 2011
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| It has been a good summer, with a beautiful, sunny after summer. For weeks now, we haven't seen a drop of rain causing the stubborn vines to keep the water they can collect in their roots instead of sending it up to the grapes. Because of this the grapes remain small and contain less wine. Still, the taste is wonderful: dark, concentrated and not too much alcohol. If it stays like this 2011 will become a nice soft wine. |
| Preparations for the harvest 2011 |
Next week the first 30 Dutch pickers will arrive. The following week the second group. Making wine is war. In the wine cellar the moving materials are cleaned and prepared for the reception of the grapes.
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| Disinfecting barrels, testing the pumps, making rails for the barriques as part of the 'vinification integrale'. Working hard: the 'Putains' and the 'Merdes' are not far off. The tension in the air is thick and heavy. |
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Suddenly a cry of anguish disrupts the peace. Wine giant Régis, who is cleaning the receptacle of the wine press, almost jumps back so fast he almost became airborne. Paralyzed with fear he keeps staring into the receptacle as if death itself were staring back at him.
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The hellish cry causes even Philippe to look up from what he's doing and Frédéric comes running, his saw at the ready, to see what's going on.
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| A spider! Ok it is a fairly large one, but still: this fierce wine giant, afraid of that thing? Then the frightening tractorist seems to be making a decision and purposefully heads towards his tractor. 'Régis!' shouts a worried Frédéric after him. 'What are you going to do?!' |
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| A moment later the wine giant returns, donning two hard-blue gynecologists gloves. With great care, as if he were dismantling an IED (improvised explosives device) without the necessary suit and having only a hammer at his disposal, he scans the iron tub for unwanted visitors |
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'Can you have a look?' Régis asks Philippe with an averted gaze. 'Is it gone? I don't wanna look...' t
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he maitre du chai casts a searching eye into the tub and shakes his head. 'I don't see it...' |
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