Maybe me! The nominees for the American Wine Blog Awards have just been announced and La Gramière has been nominated in the category for Best Winery Blog! I realize that my blog has a more narrow focus than most wineries, therefore a bit less of a broader readership, but I'd sure love to win! Not everyone dreams of living in Southern France and making wine, and after reading this blog for awhile, I would imagine that I've convinced some that it's not a dream at all, but more of a nightmare!
We've spent the last 4 days pruning, this is our last push, spring has sprung here and the sap is rising, some of the buds are very close to bursting open. So, the pruning has to get done. By the end of Northern Planting Time next Thursday, I hope to be finished. The mistral wind has been howling this week, and my poor parents decided to come out to help us prune! Once again we have our family out there with us slaving away. I looked up over the vines at one point and asked them if they ever thought for a minute that they'd be spending their retirement pruning vineyards in southern France. My mom replied; "Retirement, what retirement? " and my dad; "NO, not even for a second!" So there you have it, you never know where life will take you.
Easter weekend is always a time when, according to the bio-dynamic calendar, it is "unfavorable" to do any sort of work in the vineyards, we call these "black days". Right now we are looking at 3 days where we can't prune or do any sort of vineyard work, I can't say I mind! That doesn't, of course, mean that we won't be working... We have an 8:30 meeting at the vineyards which I'll tell you about later, then it's back to the garage to put the finishing touches on the Weed Badger!!! Stay tuned, it will be making it's debut very very soon!
So, if you love this blog and you want to see it win, please vote! And tell all of your friends to vote too! Check out all of the other blogs in the other categories, there are some great ones out there, and lots of newcomers this year. It's very exciting!
Hi, Amy, once again we are doing the same work (trying to finish the pruning - without family help unfortunately for me...). And as I already proposed your blog for the winery-blog category, I voted for you, cela va de soi! Even if I like cima collina very much, I had to be partial for a fellow winemaker in the South of France and another expat as well:-)
I hope, you'll make it. And have a nice easter time "under cover", because I imagine the mistral at your place, when the tramontane is already blowing up to 100 km around here!
Posted by: Iris | March 21, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Sincere congratulations! You certainly deserve the recognition.
Posted by: Craig Camp | March 22, 2008 at 05:31 PM
From one nominee (Best Graphics) to another, I wish you good luck!
Posted by: Dale Cruse | March 23, 2008 at 08:14 PM
Congrats! You have our vote! Keep up the great work.
Posted by: Ryan | March 24, 2008 at 02:43 PM