It’s my Vineyard

Each vine will produce enough grapes to give us three quarters of a bottle of the delicious substance. In the weeks and months to come we will be at the mercy of the weather. The climate here can be quite extreme. Last year we had hugely high winds, hail storms that were so local that the roof on the verandah at the back of our house was pelted with bullets of ice the size of large marbles while the front garden was untouched! The next day the damage was evident on some of the ‘parcels’ of vines all over the region. This however is not necessarily a disaster, it means that during the harvest the selection and sorting of the grapes has to be more carefully executed and, as it was for 2006, the ratio of stalk to fruit is higher and the bunches must not stay too long in the cuve, or vat, before the pressing is done. You will hear more of this later when the vinification process gets underway.

I grew the most delectable tomatoes last summer in my little ‘potager ‘the flavour was stunning, and yet looking at their skin it was like reading a weather map, the wounds declaring the times they had suffered. Today I continued the preparation of the ground for this summers crops. Already there is a healthy clump of sorrel that bounded back after the winter and the beginnings of some wild rocket.

We follow up our visits from wine importers and restauranteurs at the Utrecht wine fair with letters to each and every one. Fred continues to get involved with the Bentley’s brake problem, it is resting gracefully next to our old Landrover in the front courtyard, its last visit was for the ‘Photoshoot’ featured in my last entry. It will go back to its rightful home after a visit to the garage tomorrow hopefully to pass its control technique-the M.O.T