Progress throughout this month has been in leaps and bounds with Tom and Fisher working hard every day with John our Builder who we have re-named 'The Machine'. He has such strength and stamina, he never seems to get tired!
Work on the Old Winery began in earnest Last week when we were joined by Hannah & Lucas from Colorado and Wendy's son Tom. We found Hannah & Lucas through www.workaway.info a great website for people who want to travel
What is terroir? It’s a little word with a big meaning. It sums up all the various factors the vine experiences in the environment where it is growing and in turn this affects the style of the wine. Wine without the influence of terroir will just be deliciously fruity whereas terroir driven wines will express a sense of the place where they come from. The two most influential factors of terroir are the climate and the soil. Also included is the altitude the vines are grown at. Is it flat or sloping land? If there is a slope which way is it facing? Does the soil drain freely? Does the soil trap heat? Is there water nearby and if so is it a large body of water such as a lake or the sea or is it a trickling stream or a great river. What is the microclimate in that place? What else is growing in the area? All of these factors affect the growing conditions for the vine and will shape the characteristics of the wine. However there is one further, highly important element of terroir. Man. How is the land being farmed? Has the terroir been matched to particular grape varieties? How have the vines been pruned and trained? What yield is being achieved? Is the land being farmed sustainably and in deference to terroir or highly commercially using pesticides and herbicides?
Update on The Old Winery - Over the last couple of months we have spent our time clearing out The Old Winery which has taken a lot of work. It was full to the brim with junk, piles of rotting vegetation,
The Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon by Wendy Gedney - Chapter 1
I remember the first time I came to the Languedoc-Roussillon. It was the summer of 1990 and in those days I could hardly be described as a wine connoisseur, in fact quite the opposite. Yes I liked to drink wine but my taste had not developed beyond a glass of good Sancerre. It was a family holiday that brought me to the region, I was attracted by the Mediterranean climate and the ‘good value’ accommodation and my husband was attracted by the wine. He was the wine buff in the family and had heard that the wines of this region were undergoing great change which he wanted to discover for himself.
2017 was a wonderful year for Fisher and me. We met in January and very soon knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and so Fisher came to live with me in France. The village where we
Not that long ago I knew very little about wine. Fate brought me to the subject and opened up a new life for me, one I never imagined living and one that introduced me to people that I could never have met in my old life. And it brought me back to the Languedoc-Roussillon, this magical and very special place where I now live surrounded by vines and earning my living from and with them. Plus I wrote a much needed book about the region called The Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon.
New to our range of offerings this year is our Wine Cellar Dinner Party and as with all new products there has to be a premier and this week we welcomed 14 wonderful people for the first time into the wine cellar at Domaine de la Senche in La Livinière.
The Languedoc region is blessed with many things but I think three of the most enticing things for visitors is the climate, the wine and the history and here at Vin en Vacances we have devised a tour that guarantees all of this.
Catharism was a religious cult that spread through many parts of Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries but it was in Languedoc where it flourished and was openly practised.
As it took hold the Pope tried to control the people and bring them back to the Catholic faith but his efforts failed and he realised he needed armed men to crush the Cathars in Languedoc. He eventually persuaded the King of France to join him in a Holy War, a crusade against Catharism. The king wanted Languedoc to be part of his realm and saw the crusade as a chance to achieve this dream so he raised a massive army led by the Dukes of France and the warrior Catholic churchmen who marched on Languedoc.