I must always drive from here to go shopping or fill the car or even buy a loaf of bread so I am out and about in the country side almost daily. Last week the vines were asleep and people were still out planting new vines to replace old or damaged ones.
This week in mid April which is quite early, the vines have burst into life with new shoots and leaves and the fields take on a green haze as the leaves grow by the day in this warm sunshine. It is just incredible to see such vigour and life happening before your eyes. The winemakers will be looking forward to a good season. But the weather is fickle and we will have to wait until September and October to see what the partnership of mother nature and the hard working vignerons will bring.
There are still many old vines planted here, pruned in the goblet method. The gnarled and twisted and grow low to the ground. They remind me of the old bent men who toiled and farmed these hills since the middle ages. The wines from these old vines are highly prized, Because they are not suitable for modern machines they must be pruned and harvested by hand and so have a longer life than the trellised vines of to day.
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