This is like the Bordeaux summers we've not seen since '05. If you're still in the vineyards after 10am you could die! Even Scottish Moira has a bit of a tan. (A 'Scottish Tan' she says; meaning no longer blue).
Last night was shooting star night. Our old tradition here. Lying flat looking at the stars which are always brighter here (and the ground less damp) than the UK. Bagged over 30 in one hour (well, those with good eyes did). A record. Good omen?
So got up too late. Hence got fried in the vines.
But only 14 rows to go. Then every bunch will be hanging free, untangled and exposed to morning sun and the drying breeze. All potentially festering clumps of bunches will have been 'de-fankled' and there'll only be two bunches per shoot, and just one on the weedy shoots.
Getting quite nerdy aren't I?
I may have mentioned this before but as I work I just cannot seem to stop this rude schoolboy ditty going through my head; (But, err, adapted!), You know it? To the tune of The Sailors Hornpipe"?
Begins...
" Oh! ... Do your grapes hang low? Can you swing 'em to and fro'?"
It’s crucial, you see, that they do swing well and that they must NOT be left in a knot – or even a bow.
But it's very promising for the vintage. Says he, touching wood with crossed-fingers.
Wise Alain says the value of a Bordeaux vintage is actually based on the sea temperature at Cap Feret in August. This may or may not affect the grape ripening process. But a couple of degrees warmer sure affects the mood of all the Bordeaux Merchants traditionally holidaying together there. They return to work all happy, fit and optimistic. And this 'bounce' somehow transmutes into a 'great vintage'.
Not heard that theory before. But maybe ...
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