Bat dog!

When Callie comes running toward me at full speed, her ears catch the wind just right and stand straight up, showing off her full earspan! She looks like a bat, don't you think? Bat dog.

Running like a bat out of hell

One of the reasons the poor dog looks so wild-eyed is that we've had a big moon low in the western sky the past three mornings, at sunrise. She's totally spooked by the moon.

The moon at sunrise over the Renaudie vineyard

Callie keeps looking over her shoulder as she runs and walks through the vineyard to see if that big white sphere is still there, hanging over her head. It's the same behavior you see in dogs when a hot-air balloon goes by overhead, except she doesn't stand and bark at it. It's as if she senses that barking at it wouldn't do any good.

Moonset at La Renaudière, 31 July 2007

Meanwhile, the grapes are looking better and better. We've had a little stretch of nice weather. The temperature hit 80ºF yesterday afternoon, though just barely. This morning it was about 60ºF at sunrise, with a nice breeze to prevent or dry up any dew. That will help prevent mildew from growing on the grapes as they ripen.

Nice clusters of reddening grapes

These are either Gamay or Pineau d'Aunis grapes, I think. The Domaine de la Renaudie people, our neighbors, also grow Cabernet Franc and Côt (aka Malbec) red grapes. Their white wine grapes are Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc.

The first blush of color

Harvest time in a normal year is mid-September, so the grapes have about six weeks to go. In 2003, it was so hot that the harvest took place before the end of August. We're not having that problem this year. Last year, 2006, I remember, it started raining in September just as the harvest began, and the winery people had to work really fast to make sure that the moiture didn't spoil the crop. They said they had never brought the grapes in so fast.