Barrels and Pascal

Now that it is September I am back to work in the winery, and already I am beginning to feel pain in those little muscles I never knew I had... For the last few days the Domaine has been receiving many orders of barrels and we have been working hard to circulate the old barrels out and the new ones in. But by out, I really just mean outside to be washed, dried, and brought back in to be sanded down and then put back into the caves. All of this is surprisingly time consuming and tiring, but nevertheless fun and entertaining as I try to perfect my barrel-moving-skills (which is prooving difficult!) Thankfully, Mariette, Blandine, and Jean-Luc encourage me rather than laugh, though they do get a good giggle in once and awhile.

I can already tell that this is going to be a really great team for harvest as everyone here is very upbeat, positive, hardworking, and accomodating to my limited French. Mariette is another intern like myself, Blandine is the enologist, and Jean-Luc is the cellar master. Supposively we are going to get another intern for three weeks during harvest, but that may not be for awhile since harvest is delayed this year. Right now they are expecting harvest to start on the 25th of September, but if the weather stays cool like it is now, it may not be until October! This is almost 2 weeks later than the average harvest date! It will really be interesting to see how the Pinot noir grapes look when they come in as they already have thin skins, but on top of it are being handled in a Biodynamic way. With an extended rainy harvest season, this may just be bad news all around! Maybe my view of Biodynamic practices will change after this.. but we'll see...

In any case, it was announced today, and many times at work, that Pierre Vincent, our winemaker at Domaine de la Vougeraie was awarded Best Winemaker of the Year at the 2010 International Wine Challenge in London, England!! Super cool. I can't wait to see what tricks he has hidden up his sleeves this harvest... jk but I do feel as though I am in good hands!

So all in all work is dandy and I am happy to report that I have a (free) roof over my head in Dijon! Pascal, the Tastevin liason (for lack of a better title), has graciously opened up his home to me and given me a room to hang my hat in for the duration of the harvest. It is quite spacious and is in a wonderful location in downtown Dijon. I still feel like I am intruding a little on him and his son, so my use of the bathroom and kitchen are a little awkward still. But other than that I really enjoy getting to know Pascal better as he is a very generous and amusing person.

But as I look at the clock and see that it is 15 minutes past 9PM, I realize that my body is slowly but surely turning into a pumpkin. So I will update again soon to report about my experiences at the 60th Tastevinage at the Clos de Vougeot last Friday (Burgundy winetasting with rich men in a castle), and my camping trip to the Jura and Switzerland with Caroline!

Cheers and love,

D'laur