la gramiere

Essential Vineyard Accessories

Spring and early summer vineyard work require you to spend a fair amount of time suckering, spraying, "Weed Badgering" etc.  and there are certain items that I could not get along without, so I thought I'd share the list with you...  (I have received no compensation of any sort for plugging the following great products that make my life better, but if someone from one of these companies reads this and would like me to test future products or be a spokesmodel, I might consider it!! :-)

 First of all there's my Keen shoes.  Sorry I don't know what model they are, they used to be a nice green color, but over the past year, I have worn them so much in the vineyards that they are now a blend of that original green and a golden brown color that resembles the soil!  I love these shoes because of their excellent footbeds that provide great support on the rocky vineyard terrain and when I have to stop down with all of my weight on the tractor pedals to stop, turn or shift gears!  They are water proof and that is nice in the early morning when there is dew on the weeds that grow happily in the rows, my feet stay nice and dry. I have abused them for over a year now wearing them almost 50% of my shoe-wearing time and they are still comfortable and still holding together.  It's a great vineyard shoe!

The next picture shows many other essential items that I use on a daily basis when I'm working down there:

See those black gloves?  I bought them for 5 euros at our local farm supply store, and they are the best gloves I've ever had for weeding!  Even the stickiest, nastiest thistles don't poke through the black rubber coating.  The back side is regular elastic without the coating for breathability, which is a very good feature, but you have to be careful when you're pulling up sticky nasty weeds, because if they wrap around your hand it pokes right through the backside!

 

Next up, this year's very best purchase!!  I don't know why I waited so long to buy them!  Those are not just any regular sunglasses, those are Smith polarized, prescription sunglasses that I got at REI.  So amazing, I've always wanted some and this year when we were home in May I finally went for it.  It's so easy, you just buy a card at REI (after you've tried on all of the options and found the glasses that look the best on you!) and then go to the Smith website, put in your code and your glasses prescription, then in just a few days, you have the most amazing sunglasses you've ever worn!!  I definitely recommend springing for the polarized version, the precision is amazing!

Then, of course there's the IPod shuffle, gotta have music to pass the time!  But the best thing this year is the addition of the "Shure Sound Isolating Earphones".  Matt got these as a present from my sister Molly for his birthday, and I have since been using them quite a bit!  At first I didn't really get why they were so great, Matt likes them for the airplane so that it blocks out the other noises and you can acutally hear your music or the movie you're watching.  Normally, in the vineyards you don't need or want to block out all of the noise around you, it's nice to hear the wind blowing or a muffled bird singing while you're listening to your favorite tunes.  On the tractor though, I used to wear these big ear-muff type ear proctectors when I was spraying, not any more!  These earphones have a specially developed foam core that you squish up tight between your fingers and then shove into your ears, as the foam expands it blocks out the sounds around you, meaning the tractor and the sprayer,.  This enaables me to still listen to music while spraying, at the same volume I would if I was just walking around.  Amazing!

Finally there's the obligatory straw hat and sun screen!  Some of my friends will be shocked to see that blue bottle of Coppertone!  Normally I'm the all-natural, no chemical girl, but someone left this bottle of Coppertone last year after harvest. One day when I was in a hurry and couldn't find anything else I grabbed it to put some on before heading out.  I opened the bottle and squeezed some into my palm, and suddenly I was transported back to another time, when I was in my early 20s finishing college, going to the pool, lying on beaches, drinking too many tropical drinks!  It was such an amazingly powerful memory brought on by the scent of Coppertone!  I now use it everytime I go, simply because it puts a smile on my face every time I rub it into my forearms!!!

OH wait! I almost forgot, there's one more essential vineyard accessory, how could I have forgotten the most important one?!   DAISY the wonder dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where to find La Gramière 2006 - Update

I usually hate it when wineries use their blog just to tell people where to find the wines, but I haven't done this in awhile, and we've been shipping to lots of different states, so I thought you might enjoy seeing where in the US our wine has gone!  I will post them in chronological order so as not to favor anyone!  If anyone who is reading this has pictures that we can add to the post, send them to me!  Unless otherwise indicated you'll need to call the distributor to find out where you can buy the wine retail.

Hawaii -  Southern W&S   318 Kamani Street Honolulu, HI 96813     (808) 591-8825

New York -  Thirst Wine Merchants  187 DeKalb Ave @ Carlton, Brooklyn (718) 596-7643 www.thirstwinemerchants.com  Our EXCLUSIVE NY retailer!  (First two photos courtesy of Thirst Wine Merchants)

Washington State - Cavatappi Distribuzione 5118 14th Avenue N.W. Seattle. WA 98107  (206) 282-5226 www.cavatappi.com

Maryland - Chesapeake Beverage Co.  3000 Waterview Avenue Baltimore.  MD 21230   (410) 576-7776
Chesapeake first ordered 15 cases and then re-ordered another 30!!  Thank you!

California - Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant 1605 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702  (510) 524-1524
www.kermitlynch.com

Louisiana - Purveyors of Fine Wines PO Box 30308 New Orleans, LA 70190  (504) 523-5230

Michigan - Veritas 32185 Hollingsworth Warren, MI 48092   (586) 977-5799

 Oregon - D’Vine Wine Inc. 3315 NW 26th Avenue Portland OR 97210 (503) 228-9450

Florida - Opici Wine Company P.O. Box 530275 Lake Park FL 33403 (561) 842-3113

Colorado - Baroness Distributing 2475 W. 2nd Avenue, #36 Denver CO 80223 (303) 934-1300

Tennesee - Best Brands Inc. P.O. Box 290155 Nashville TN 37229 (615) 350-8500

Kentucky - Heidelberg Distributing 101 W. 13th Street Covington KY 41011 (859) 261-5830

Vermont - g.housen - North -  100 First Street Rutland VT 05701 (802) 773-4707

There you have it!  That's where 2006 La Gramière has been shipped!  If you call one of the distributors, be patient as they often have hundreds of wines on their list, and though it may shock you, not everyone has heard of La Gramière.  Be sure to mention, Kermit Lynch as the importer, the region: Rhône, and then maybe the name : La Gramière (gra - mee - air)

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful distributors, retailers and restaurant accounts!!  We are so greatful for your support!

(Photos: Above: tasting with the Kermit Lynch staff, Second: Guillaume & Luc of Terroir - Natural Wine Bar& Merchant)

Pallets!

Ever thought much about them?  Me neither until we started shipping wine to the US.  We are required to ship each order on pallets that are specially treated according to a norm called NIMP15.  What? Yeah, that's what I said when I got the fax from the Kermit Lynch office.  Seems that it stems from an international treaty that was signed by most countries concerning untreated wood products.  Apparently some untreated wood products can harbor little bugs and beetles that are harmful to other species of plants in other countries.  There are two ways to get rid of these bugs, one by heating the wood to a high enough temperature to kill off any little critters that may be living inside the wood or the second using methyl bromide.  Kermit Lynch refuses to accept pallets treated with methyl bromide (good thing! I'm not sure exactly what methyl bromide is but it sounds nasty!) so we obviously use first kind.

So last year when we started shipping our wine,  we get this fax, and I think: geez, here's another thing I have to learn about, where the heck to I find these pallets?  Of course I had a stack of normal ones left over from the bottle delivery, but no, can't use those, must buy different ones!  So I asked our friends Bertrand and Claudie Cortellini at Rouge Garance, and they told me where to go. 

So that's how I spent my morning today, driving 45 minutes to a place up in the Cevennes mountains that makes pallets!  It's funny how you discover a whole new industry by accident, just because you make wine.  I have to borrow our friend Peter's pick-up truck every time,  because they won't fit into my super cool '78 Renault 4L.  Good thing we have a friend with a pick-up since they won't deliver unless you order at least 100!  Not sure we'll ever  need that many...

Like adding salt to a wound...

Okay, I know I've been doing my fair share of complaining these days, but it just keeps getting worse!!

Saturday we had a big thunderstorm, it rained hard for at least an hour and then continued to rain steadily for several more.  It's nice to have a bit of rain at this point, but of course I was worried about mildew... On Sunday at choir someone mentioned that it had hailed too.  Hmm I hadn't noticed, and usually I'm quite aware of such things...

Well yesterday morning at the crack of dawn I went down to spray another round of bouillie bordelaise and sulfur, the Grenache vineyard we call Lauzettes was fine, looked great.  Then I went to the Syrah, and suddenly I started seeing grapes that were brown and split open.  Geez, I was just down here Wednesday and there was no sign of trouble, then it dawned on me: Hail!!!  It's only on the western facing side of the rows, and there is a fair amount.  Yet a smaller crop for 2008!  Soon we'll just decide to go on vacation rather then harvesting our grapes, since there aren't going to be any more!

Happy Bastille Day!

  It's funny, but in some places in the US, Bastille Day is move festively celebrated than it is here!  Chez Panisse  always has a great fête.  This year its menu is based on "new garlic".  Well, here in Saint Quentin la Poterie we have "Le Diner de la Republique".  And for some reason it's always on the 13th...go figure.  It's sponsored by the Mairie and features a huge dinner.  Everyone in the village is invited, though, it costs something like 15 euros (for a 4 course meal with wine).  There is always music and dancing and the evening ends with fireworks. 

This year my choir was invited to sing during the early hours of the evening.  I know that for most  Americans choir=church, but in France it's not like that at all.  There are choirs everywhere, and I am lucky enough to belong to one of the coolest ones around. We are called the "Canards Sauvages" - wild ducks- so you can see how seriously we take ourselves! (a canard is also slang for a false note). We sing a great mix of songs, many of them wine related, from all over the world. Last night we sang in  French, English, German, Spanish, Romanian and Bulgarian, though I can't vouch for our pronunciation! 

Anyway, back to the big party...the town had set up long tables under the market hall.  Over 300 people came for the dinner, even more for the aperitif before hand and the music and fireworks afterwords.  Our new mayor and all of his council were there, along with people from all walks of life from the village.  The food was even half way decent, though I did run home to get some La Gramière so that we didn't have to drink the wine from our local co-op.  The evening ended with a great display of fireworks, and all the village came out to see it.

 I always want to make Bastille Day into the 4th of July.  It's one of the holidays I miss the most in the US, picnics, symphony in the park, jello salad... all of the fun things that happen on that day.  Here it's not quite the same.  Often it's just a day off and people turn out for the fireworks.  There doesn't seem to be that camaraderie and communal spirit that I remember when I was a kid.  There are fireworks in Uzès tonight, on the actual Bastille Day.  When I think back on last night, it occurs to me that in Saint Quentin the have their dinner on the night before so that they can spend the 14th recovering from the party! 

Sure makes me miss Chez Panisse and symphony in the park!

Ok, Ok, I'm back

For me, the number of posts on my blog are in direct correlation with my state of mind. If I'm happy, I blog a lot, if things aren't going so well, I tend to want to avoid it all together!  Since I'm a person that wears my heart on my sleeve and has a tendency to be very honest, too honest sometimes, and tell all, when I'm not at my best, I tend to shy away, to hide here in my little little corner of Provence.

Things here have been challenging lately to say the least.  It seems that at every turn something goes wrong, despite our best efforts to do the right thing.  First there was the mildew, then our tractor broke down, then the sprayer got all clogged up and it took forever to clean it!  We had to borrow a neighbor's tractor to spray, which was a new experience driving a different tractor!  I loved the power steering but the 4 wheel drive was a bit too powerful for my taste... The tractor repair man said that it would cost more to repair the tractor than it was worth, but that we could keep using it until it finally dies... My poor tractor!  I don't really want to get a new one, but I guess it's inevitable.  Since then the tractor seems to be running alright, so we're going to keep on keepin' on and it will hopefully last through the season.  We hadn't really budgeted for a tractor, so maybe I'll start a tractor fund!?  Anyone want to contribute?  (hahaha)

After all this, last week I was up at the crack of dawn to go spray, got everything there and ready, went to start filling the sprayer and was closing the drain valve when it came off in my hand.  Ugh.  How can we be so unlucky?  Now I have to drive an hour and a half to go get a replacement part because our sprayer is not just any run-of-the-mill locally made sprayer, but one Matt found that is made in Italy and the distributor is all the way up by Montelimar.  As if I had nothing better to do with my day.  Luckily they had the part and didn't have to call Italy to get it, so I was back in business that evening, ended up spraying until afterdark which is a challenge given that our tractor's headlights don't work!  What made it even worse was that Manu Chao was playing that night at the Pont du Gard, and I could hear it!! I had tried to get tickets but it was sold out, talk about rubbing salt in a wound! 

Anyway, things aren't all that bad, they're in full wheat harvest here, the blackberries are in bloom and when I came around the corner while walking Daisy the other morning this was the view I had.  I said to myself: oh, right, I live in Provence.

 I can't imagine anyone not smiling inside and out when standing in front field of sunflowers!