Yesterday morning on my walk with Tasha out in the Rendaudière vineyard, I ran into one of the people who tend the vines out there. He said his day would consist of a morning of pruning vines and then an afternoon of helping bottle wines. The expectation was that the winery, called le Domaine de la Renaudie, would have filled 20,000 bottles by the end of the day.
Above are some of the 75 acres of vines that belong to the Denis family, who own and operate of the Domaine de la Renaudie wine business. Our house and hamlet are visible in the distance. The Denis family grows Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Côt (aka Malbec), Pineau d'Aunis, and a few other grape varietals. The woman running the business these days is great-granddaughter of the man who founded the business many decades ago. She recently took over from her parents. According to the winery's web site, their potentiel de production is about 190,000 bottles a year, and about half of that is Sauvignon Blanc white wine that is part of the Touraine Chenonceaux appellation. The famous Château de Chenonceau is a 30-minute drive west of Saint-Aignan.
Great access to wonderful wines.
ReplyDeleteWe're having a Burgundy with W's birthday dinner tomorrow (steak au poivre). And then a Saint-Émilion with the Christmas capon. Otherwise, we drink the local wine, even on special occasions.
DeleteIt's hard for me to imagine bottling 20,000 bottles a day! You drink fine wines every day and even finer on special occasions.
ReplyDeleteGlad you translated Côt because I wouldn't have know what it is. 20,000 bottles a day is a lot. I'm still enjoying knowing about "ice wines," which are few and far between in the fine wine desert of Etats Unis, lolol.
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