Got early text message from Jean-Marc:

"If you want to see something funny come to Ste Radegonde."

Ste Rad is a good co-op cellar where we used to do a lot of our Flying Winemaker production. And it's where we first met Jean Marc. Anyway, seems he'd volunteered all our buying team to do them a 'decuvaison'. Reckoned they needed to know about the harder side of winemaking.

Decuvaison is when a wine has finished fermenting and the liquid drawn off.... you then have to get inside the tank and shovel out the solid remains; skins and pips.

So down you go into the tank that reeks incredibly of wine and by the light of one lightbulb you get shovelling. For a good half hour. It's hot work. And you feel drunk on fumes.

So there's Justin and Thomas leading their girls into getting covered in skins, stained and stained with dark red blotches of lees. Not looking their best. But nobody bottled out! Ho ho.

Pretty good as a team building exercise.. Though Elf and Safety would have a fit if they knew so we won't tell them.

I did quite enough of this stuff in my youth so I just take photos.

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