Sunday lunch in a vineyard

Down a country lane

We were invited by english friends to join them for a lunch at a local vineyard, Domaine de Jolis Bois. Patricia, the vigneron, and her family hold these lunches on weekends through the summer and they begin with a walk through the vines and an introduction to the work of a vigneron. Patricia’s family has been making wine here for a long time and the hamlet is filled with extended family members. That’s about twenty houses.

Vines, vines everywhere

there's always an old church

everyone prepared to earn that lunch...and a drink

 

four year old vines

a new parcel of vines just planted

just planted - a one year old vine covered in red wax

Patricia explains about the planting

explaining that different spacing is required for different grape varieties

grape variety can be identified by the leaf, apparently

no irrigation is permitted so they just have to hope for rain at the right times

After the walk through the vineyard in the hot sun, we were relieved to return along the lane under shady trees and into the barns and cellar.

walking back beneath the trees

This is a small family operation carried on in whatever old farm buildings are available so none of those fancy  purpose-built ateliers and underground cellars full of oak barrels that you usually see on an organised wine tour. The equipment is  well used and the buildings a little creaky looking, but the enthusiasm is there and it shows in the wines.

family heirloom ?

tractor seat wouldn't pass OH&S in Australia

no fancy steel vats here

grape crusher

a corner of the cellar

Patricia is very charming, and while she doesn’t speak english, and our french is still halting, she made us feel very welcome and was curious about Australia and australian food and wines. Her partner , David, is a chef and prepared some wonderful duck on a barbecue over burning vine wood from the old section of vineyard that had been recently uprooted and replanted with new vines.

Graham considering his wine after a hot walk in the vines

  

After the tour we all gathered , 21 of us, under the trees for a tasting and an opportunity to get to know each other. There were five of us in the english group, a half a dozen french locals and what turned out to be a boisterous group from Perigueux.

serious about their lunch

Ahh, that's better !

The word ‘generous’ is an understatement when talking about the wines at lunch. We all sat at one long table and the reds, whites and rosés flowed freely with the salad, the duck with roasted potatoes, and the ice creams, all presented in the style of a typical french family enjoying their Sunday lunch together.

now for the serious stuff - finishing the last of the wine

Particularly popular was the eau de vie. This is a distilled drink ( pure alcohol I should think judging by my one little sip) that is made ‘for home consumption’ and not permitted to be offered for sale. Everyone was given a little shot in our coffee cups and we were shown the correct way to enjoy it – poured over a sugar cube and then swallow the cube whole and always, lick all the excess from your fingers ! The Perigueux group were very enthusiastic about showing us this and after a few the lunch soon degraded into a singalong of french and english drinking songs .   Entente cordiale indeed.

We shall return…

Leslie and John - thank you for the invitation and a wonderful sunday afternoon

Bonne semaine mes amis