Hello, it is June 12 and I have not started organising harvest yet because I am for multiple rather than a single reason, feeling a bit depressed. For one thing I am feeling increasingly over wine. As a beverage, as work and as a world — because it is it’s own world — and as the real world goes to shit in ways you think couldn’t get worse until you learn what’s happened the next day, I’m finding it very hard to find joy in the cycle of production > packaging > sales > start again as the hamster wheel continues to spin.
But spin it continues! And whereas I’ve put ‘call growers’ on my list next week, this week I realised I hadn’t written a harvest report for 2024, which I realised only because today June 12 I read Aaron’s (2023 report), at the bottom of which he linked to a post I wrote about bottling tiny quantities of wine on my blog, which I clicked, which reminded me I have a blog** and which made me sad. So I am here, late as ever (actually the latest ever) but hoping a memorial wander will exorcise some of my gloom before the start of the next year.
Better late than never say the late to comfort themselves...
2024 was a funny harvest. It wasn’t funny when my press broke at first press (24.05.04, cinsault, actually: Aaron you were there!) because of two worn out gaskets, and I don’t think I took one full breath of air until the piece of dried-out horse-reins leather became sufficiently pliable after two days in oil for A to fashion into gasket 1 while j-dog did whatever he did with to replicate gasket 2. It wasn’t funny that twice I left the field at 17h having started at the usual 07. And it wasn’t so funny that for my first three picks (out of 8) I had no team and had to draft in a real winemaker (thank you Béa!!!) to help with the first one (which was quite funny), A for another and do the other alone, for my team to come and work to stop because the press said no. (I also had to scramble to find people to help with the last two décuvage when the team left and pick and process the gamay d’auvergne alone).
But apart from all that, which really isn’t much because the most important thing is THE PRESS WORKED, and with the calming balm of time and how what I’m trying to remember happened 10 months ago, I think I remember the funny thing being that it was so calm.
2024 was the year we crashed at my place, which, to perhaps crash your expectations is not a rambling house in the countryside with a tree outside, but an apartment in a random town with a spare bed in the corridor. This means it was a harvest of showering more than I have during other harvests, but also less (none?) candlelit meals or drinking or hanging at the cave. This was funny — in a weird way.
We harvested twice, in the Ardèche, in the cold. Also funny!
We were on film, with cameras. I wore a mic. When I watch the documentary I’m pretty sure I’m NOT going to find all the shit I said, funny.
The Sauvignon I was supposed to harvest had been harvested by machine the night before I was supposed to harvest it. That, with hindsight, was funny.
We spent quite a bit of harvest labelling old wine and not making new wine, painting all of bAbBo dISco and cutting up old labels to make new labels (c’est ta fete and Tiger no name). Doing this during harvest I found a funny use of time.
Half of harvest we were just two, which as good as the company is and as efficiently as we try to get the work done, is not so much a harvest team as two people at… work. Still made 70hl though. Thanks chief.
In grapes and in order:
° Viognier + muscat from Mattia Carfanga, l'Hérault (17.08)
° Pinot Noir from Thierry de Marne, Minervois (20.08)
° Cinsault from Mathieu and Franck, l'Hérault (23.08)
° Sauvignon Blanc from Gerald Oustric, Ardèche (07.09)
° Grenache from Domaine Ozil, Ardèche (13.09)
° Cinsault from Gerald Oustric, Ardèche (17.09)
° Gamay d'Auvergne from Manuel Duveau and 2 caisse of Pinot from me (25.09)
° Gamay d'Auvergne from Nicholas Lebleu, Auvergne (27.09)
In pictures, also in order:
Mattia and his viognier
They are not
Pinot
Next day destemming of pinot with my saviour Joe
cinsault
\w/
First press, still working
Press leaking oil, not working
C'est t'a fête 19 with cut out skateboards from my cut up notfallspur 22 labels
The broken gaskets
Joe and Olia brought lunch (again)
Continuing on the bABbo
More side projects: waxing hOT giRLs
Décuvage pinot. Meg!
Rice balls :)
Family meal, full house!
Tour Cassée on the way for the SB
Sky break
Gérald's SB
Anders and Mattis
Me and Mattis
Me and the Boss
Cold ones for the road
1/3 SB in the press
Suez + tonix
Grenache, Domaine Ozil
M on film
Gérald's cinsault
The doc kids!
Gamay, maluzat, auvergne
Wild carrot + pinot, boudes
annnd the last pick, gamay from Nicholas 27.09
Décuvage with Julie and Jacob (Grenache)
And last decuvage of the year, 1 October, sauvignon, with Théo
fin
** I know I made a big deal about starting a substack but I don't think I like substack.
