Happy New Vineyard Year 2013

Did you know that during the Napoleonic wars most of Europe used the Gregorian calendar. However between 1792 and 1805 France used what was known as the Republican or Napoleonic Calendar. In this all the months were renamed and years began with the foundation of the Republic at An I or Year 1. All months had 30 days except the 12th month, which had 35 or 36 on a leap year. The Republican year ran from September to August with each month named according to the season.

I've been fascinated with this calendar ever since I saw the paintings of it in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris. So I thought it would be fun to re-produce my own 21st Century version using the colours of the vineyard year.

"VENDEMIARE"

September to October was referred to as Vendemiare meaning Vintage and the month of the wine harvest.

GOLDEN VENDEMIARE

"BRUMIARE"

October to November was renamed Brumiare meaning Fog.

GREY BRUMIARE

"FRIMAIRE"

November to December was called Frimaire meaning Frost. Brrhh...

SILVER FRIMAIRE

"NIVOSE"

December to January became known as Nivose meaning Snow. Brrhhhhh...

WHITE NIVOSE

"PLUVIOSE"

January to February was Pluviose meaning Rain. Sums up a dreary cold month...

BROWN PLUVIOSE

"VENTOSE"

February to March became Ventose meaning Wind. My least favourite month and difficult to reproduce as a colour so I have called it opaque as by the end of March the sap should be rising on the pruned vines.

OPAQUE VENTOSE

"GERMINAL"

March to April was declared Germinal meaning Budding. Surprisingly in this month the little buds start to appear on the vines. From now on the vineyards start to come out of their winter dormancy and gradually more colour will start to appear in the vineyards.

GRIS GERMINAL

"FLOREAL"

April to May was considered as Floreal meaning FLOWERING. The month the little flowers start to appear on the vines. A period call floraison.

GREEN FLORIAL

"PRAIRIAL"

May to June was considered as Prairial meaning Meadows. The fields around the vineyards are starting to fill with colour now especially the rose fields.

RAINBOW PRAIRIAL

"MESSIDOR"

June to July was described as Messidor meaning Harvest. The cereal fields are starting to be harvested. Sue even went up in a microlite to catch this shot!

BEIGE MESSIDOR

"THERMIDOR"

July to August was designated Thermidor meaning Heat. Orange like a lobster thermidor?

ORANGE THERMIDOR

"FRUCTIDOR"

August to September was named Fructidor meaning Fruit.

PURPLE FRUCTIDOR


OTHER COLOURS OF THE VINEYARDS

BRIGHT GREEN

BRIGHT YELLOW

BRIGHT RED

RUSSET
BLUE

The calendar lasted for 13 years before being returned to the Gregorian Calender in 1806 by Napoleon Bonaparte.

From Potager to Loire Valley Vineyard

A pretty hectic couple of weeks has left little time for blogging other than 'micro-blogging' on Twitter where you can now find us at Twitter.com/frenchwinetours if you wish to join in with the tweets. Otherwise we have been pretty much out and about running Wine Tours and serving our delicious Wine Sampling Suppers here at La Grande Maison.

So what has been happening in the vineyard and the potager during this time? Well less than a month ago the bunches on the vines looked like this. Flowering went well in the end and we managed to avoid any heavy rain that might have knocked off the tiny delicate flowers.

Within 3-4 weeks the bunches are looking good and with the cooler evenings it has been the ideal time to go out and work on the few rows of Chenin Blanc that we have in the vineyard. When the vines were pruned during the winter eight buds were left on last years canes so each vine produced about eight vertical shoots. Each shoot usually produces two bunches so there are a total of around sixteen bunches per vine. This is too many for us as we wish to produce quality rather than quantity hence the job in hand. The extra bunches that didn't fit the bill were cut off leaving 8-10 bunches per vine.

It is hard to think that the grapes will be wasted but it will improve the quality and space available for what is left on the vine.

Back in the potager, secateurs still in hand and we have good crops of yellow and green courgettes, potatoes, garlic, shallots, peas and beans. All our produce is grown organically and our meals are based around what is available each evening.

Even the hens are coming up trumps and Vita produced her first double yolker bless her, she always was a hen of many fancies!

Dogs as per usual do their best to help. With the odd bit of baguette snaffling.

Humble Pie H.R.H

They don't look at all guilty do they?

Willow (aka Wills or Mr Beans)

Pruning Vines for Loire Valley Wines

The snow is gradually starting to thaw and the pruning teams are back in the vines with their secateurs powered by compressed air. The tractor has been through first to trim the tops off the vines leaving amazing patterns in the snow.

The predominant method of pruning vines in this region of France is the single Guyot method. A cane from the previous years growth is selected. This is pruned to 8 nodes which will be tied down horizontally and produce the vertical shoots for this years growth.

A 'spur' is also selected and pruned to 2 nodes, these will produce shoots to be used as next years canes. Ideally the spur should be close to the head of the vine trunk and positioned along the line of the row to maximise plant 'energy' and trellis space and minimise damage from tractors.

Once last years vertical shoots have been cut from the main trunk the next team follows to pull out the shoots from the wires. These are then laid out in the middle of every other row before being mulched by a tractor. The mulch is part barrier against weeds and also replaces the nutrients lost in the growing process.Interested in coming on a 1 day Introduction to Viticulture Course? Please email resv@lagrandemaison.net for further details of our Vineyard Stay Courses for 2009.

Brrrrh it's Freezing!

It was -4 oC this morning and for all of you who are more used to seeing the vines in full growth then this is the frostier picture.

There is no stopping the dogs though and they still need their twice/thrice daily walk over the hill and down the track to the vineyards around Le Puy Notre Dame. Luckily they don't seem to mind the cold as much as we do.

This is a bit of a giveaway though. I think they really prefer it in front of the fire on a day like this and who can blame them?

HRH ands Wills 2009

The Last Wine Tour of the Season

As the starlings start to swoop in on the last grapes left on the vines we close another chapter on our 5th year of Wine Tours in the Loire Valley. Our last group left yesterday morning on the high speed TGV train from Angers to London and will leave behind fond memories of the many colourful characters they have met on their visits behind the winery doors.

Jean-Paul generously gave our group an opportunity to taste the Domaine de Mihoudy Anjou Red 2008, still fermenting and straight from tank.
The Coteaux de Layon 2008 was vigorously fermenting away at Domaine de Mihoudy. The strong fermentation odours took our breathe away.
Back in the Saumur appellation in Brossay, Guillaume at Chateau de Fosse Seche filling the oak barrels with the white “Tri de la Chapelle”, their late harvest Chenin Blanc.

We are now taking bookings for our Wine Tours for 2009 - the season starts again in mid-March so click on the link to see the Wine Tour & Stay Packages at La Grande Maison for 2009.