Grape harvest and monolith church
Group dinner
After the included breakfast in which we mastered yet another version of a French coffee-making machine, we set off for Grand Corbin-Despagne, a grand cru winery. We were met by the delightful owner Francois Despagne, the 7th generation owner. He led the tour giving us many facts and insights into their process. He explained they don’t use any pesticides and use a modified biodynamic process. This “witchcraft”involves burying a horn full of cow manure and water in a certain place for a certain period of time depending on the cycle of the moon. They then dig that up and dilute it and spray that on the soil.
We were lucky to be there on the first day of harvest. We saw young pickers gathering the grapes then we saw the sorting process. First a machine shakes the stems off. Then the grapes are sent up and down belts to be sorted. One belt has sugar water and the good grapes sink. The less ripe grapes float to the top and are siphoned off. Then some ladies further cull the good grapes and finally they are collected and placed in a vat. Each vat contains only the grapes from a particular area on the property. There are a few different soil types but it is mainly clay. This is good for the merlot grapes which make up the majority of the blend. After 2 fermentations in the tanks, the grapes are crushed and the mash and the juice are circulated so the juice can pick up color, flavor and tannins. Then the winemaker tastes the various samples in a blind tasting to blend the wine. (They blend mostly merlot with a little bit of Cabernet Franc and maybe a little Cabernet Sauvignon.) When he’s satisfied, the wine is transferred to oak barrels to age for 18 months to 2 years. It is then tasted and blended again. It is a fascinating process and makes delicious wine. Francois explained he makes about 8,000 bottles of 1st quality wine (average age of vines 40 years) and 40,000 of second quality (average age of vines 20 years). First quality goes for 40 euros a bottle and second quality for 15 - 20 euros. He said it is available in the U.S. as well as all over Europe and, after tasting it, we will definitely be seeking it out.
We then returned to the bus for a drive through the Pomerol region, about 1/5 the size of the Saint-Emilion region. They have “blue clay” soils and produce very good, expensive wines. (I later asked Maria why Francois’ wines were only second classification, not the top classification, and she said it is the soils- he only has one plot of blue clay.) We saw a modern winery with grass and trees growing on the roof and stopped to look at Dominique Chateau, with a restaurant with bright red tiles.
We then went to Saint-Emilion and had a quick delicious lunch before our tour of the Monolith church. It started raining lightly as we sat on the terrace, making the cobblestones even more slippy than usual. Luckily there were handrails to help us navigate down to the level of the tour. The door was right near the restaurant we visited last night. We had a wonderful guide Maeva, who was energetic and entertaining. She told the story of St. Emilion, a 8th century monk, who had performed two miracles elsewhere before moving to the cave where we were standing. He performed more miracles and was canonized a saint and the town named after him. The underground monolith church was carved out of the limestone over a 40 year period in the 13th century. There were probably beautiful paintings but none remained as during the French Revolution the salt peter that formed on the walls was scraped off for gunpowder, along with the paintings. Due to all the underground streams, they have had to build ugly steel supports around the Church columns. There were a few carvings left but mostly it was bare rock. We saw a chapel that had been turned into a shop and then a cooperage after the French Revolution. The soot from toasting the oak barrels preserved some of the frescoes in the chapel. When the soot was removed, the frescoes were revealed. There were both Romanesque and Gothic features in the chapel which is quite unusual. We last saw the catacombs and the tunnels where they had quarried limestone for the buildings in Bordeaux. They were forced to stop when the town threatened to sink. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside any of the Church, chapel or catacombs. Sue later bought a book to help remember this fascinating experience.
We had a last glass of wine on the hilltop then rushed to the bus. We arrived at 4 pm on the dot but it did not leave until 4:10 as Maria was late. Apparently she was buying wine in one of the many shops.
We returned to the hotel where Mary was still working. Later we had some wine on the terrace behind our room and then a group dinner at the restaurant connected to the hotel. They had a tuna starter, pork roast with rice pilaf and an almond cake for desert. It was Donal’s 64th birthday so there was singing of Happy Birthday and “When I’m 64”. The setting was a long room with two long tables set up. We were at one end with some nice folks but as the evening went on the voices became louder and the din made it impossible to hear. We had our last glass of wine outside on the terrace. Tomorrow we leave for Cognac.
Comments
Post a Comment