24 August 2012

Glass, grapes, and dog runs

Can you figure out what you're seeing in the photo below?

Broken glass in the gravel

It's a section of gravel in our driveway, and what's left of the window that was in the right rear door of the car. The weed-eater threw up a rock yesterday, and that rock shattered the glass. Luckily, I'm covered by insurance. I'm going to get it repaired in just a few minutes.


Above and below, two pictures of Callie on her own personal dog runs. One is in the vineyard — she loved to run up and down the rows of vines. The picture below is the strip of land we recently cleared of weeds and brambles just on the outside of our fence. Callie's exploring this new territory.


Finally, the current state of the grapes at La Renaudière. They are ripening and I'm starting to see which grapes will be turned into red wine and which ones will become white wine. It's very dry now, and the grapes seem to be doing well. No news yet on harvest dates, however. Most years, the vendanges take place in September.


13 comments:

  1. Carglass répare, carglass remplace! Amazing how well that commercial works. The jingle just pops up as soon as you mention what happened.
    It's still a shame.

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  2. The word from 'our' vignerons is that harvest will probably be in the last week of Sept, into early Oct - about a month later than last year. Also the grapes are getting sunburnt with all this hot dry weather. Because the vines had a mini prune to remove leaves when it was cooler and they weren't getting enough sun, now they are getting too much.

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  3. I'm being curious here, but how do you see which grapes are going to be turned into red or white wine?

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  4. Well, my question might sound stupid at first, but I had been told as a kid, that you could use black grapes for white whine (like champagne). I just checked, and in the Saint-Aignan region, it is very unlikely they use black grapes for white whine. However, they do use some black "cépages" for rosé.

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  5. Jan, do you know the term "nit-picking"? Why do my blog posts drive you so crazy?

    Winemakers do use Pinot Noir grapes to make rosé and even white sparkling wines in the Loire Valley, as in Champagne. There are exceptions to every rule: "white" (or green) grapes give white wine; "black" (or red, or purple) grapes make red wine. Sauf exceptions. It's not really a black and white world.

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  6. Hi Ken. Some might say "chercher la puce dans le cul du chien" for nit-picking, if I am not mistaken about the meaning.

    My apologies if it sounded that way, it really was not my intention. I enjoy your blog everyday. I thought it might be an interesting additional info for your readers to learn grape color isn't automatically related to the resulting wine color. May be all of your readers know this already, and if that is the case, all my apologies to them for being a smart ass.

    I might be more French that I thought I was, and I think what you call nit-picking, other call it French arrogance. May be I have also a strange conception of comments being the place to exchange information and views, even if they are not necessarily identical to yours. When I am silent, it's just that I have nothing to add to the excellent content. If you look at my posting history on your site, you can only conclude I am very satisfied with your job, so there's no need for you to see me as the nut nit-picking Frenchie.

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  7. It's always so nice to see Callie out romping and enjoying herself :) I love those photos. Sorry to hear about the glass repair necessity--at least it was broken by accident, and not by a smash-and-grab vandalism incident :))

    Judy

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  8. Red or white wine to go with the wonderful stir fry you made yesterday. Life is good!

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  9. How about repeating the banner
    photo of Callie, showing the
    seasonal changes. Next one
    would be the red autumn vines.
    Stay, Callie!

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  10. Ken

    Two of the grapevine plants that we planted last yr are at the same stage as those in your picture and unfortunately a couple of the other plants are losing their leaves, attacked by Japanese beetles. We have an infestation this yr - the farmers and vineyards in Southern Ontario are suffering and in Quebec they are devouring the leaves of some shade trees also - my Turkish Filbert ( hazel tree) is under attack and it's too late to do anything.

    Callie the adventurer :-)

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  11. Well, at least your weed eater/string trimmer is still operational. Mine (barely over 1-year old) quit suddenly yesterday and I learned late in the afternoon that the carburetor failed. The dealer may or may not get the manufacturer to replace it under warranty.
    Sorry about the rock/window incident. I guess picking up all that glass and gravel won't be fun, either.

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  12. Glad the window is covered by your insurance!

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  13. Ellen, in the U.S. I heard "SafeLite repair, Safelite replace" as a jingle on the radio. Sounded like British English to me, but it was the same jingle as in France.

    Jan, I appreciate your comments, and I'm glad to know you're a regular reader. Next time you come to Saint-Aignan, you'll have to get in touch.

    Judy, the car window was replaced yesterday morning. I only had to wait about an hour, and insurance covered the cost with no deductible. I'm glad I chose that coverage, and you can be sure we will move the car inside the next time we run the mower or the weed-eater out front.

    Sheila, good idea. I'll see if I can get that picture again in a few months.

    Beaver, sorry to hear about your grape vines and filbert shrubs. Some years are just like that.

    Mary, and Evelyn, Dominique at the car repair shop looked at the car and said: "Did your lawn-mower or weed-eater throw a rock? It happens frequently in summertime..."

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