Getting it done....

The green of spring in Languedoc - Looking up at the farm.  

Winter wheat has been planted in the vineyards to prepare

the ground over a couple of years for new vines.

April 20th, 2009

I came to France this trip to complete the installation of a gate for the main entrance to the farm. I’d had the materials from the last trip and had worked out a design that I thought would provide for the gates to be invisible when open and effective when closed. And so today, with only a couple days left I wanted to get the gate done. But first I had to set up meetings with the Bruno from the cooperative and with Jean Pierre and his pruning guy. We also wanted to meet with the small artisan olive oil producer from the town who has his business located on the wonderfully named street “Le Fontain des Amours”. While we did not find the fountain we certainly fell in love with the olive oil. He makes several different types and has won awards for his olive oil throughout the region.

Montaud has a long history of olive oil production having been a major center of production for hundreds of years. Everywhere you see the olive trees along the roads, in the fields, between vineyards. While it is not the industry it once was it is still an integral part of life in the region and a key reason why I was so happy to uncover the old olive trees on the farm property.

We discussed our proposal for him to provide a small olive oil bottle for our new “A Little Languedoc” gift packs. He came up with a 200 cl bottle that would be wax sealed with a little descriptor of the olive oil. In the future we agreed we might also sell larger quantities and bottle and containers of different sizes but for now we were starting with the gift size. His solution looks beautiful and the more so for the fact that it comes from the very soil where we have our vineyards. There is something satisfying about getting back to a connection with the land that makes everything in life taste just a little bit sweeter.

Once finished with that I threw myself into completing the gate, while Christian toured the vineyards with Jean Pierre, Bruno and the pruning guy ( I cannot remember his name but he drove a big, tank like Mercedes truck he used for off road races in North Africa). My design required a little refinement as I went along but I was more than half done when then finished their tour and summarized for me what they had found.

Christian, myself, the pruner and Jean Pierre Martin

after reviewing the condition of the vineyards.

They could start pruning within a couple of days depending on the wetness of the vineyards and be completed within perhaps a week or ten days. Jean Pierre would produce a proposal and email it to me this night. The vineyards were certainly worth investing in and could produce a significant. Crop for the coming year if all else held true ie. Weather.

All this was good news to hear and I was happy to recommend to Jean that we go with this approach. It would take a lot of worry over the care of the vineyards off the table and give us greater confidence in being able to produce the wines of quality that we have been after.

In the afternoon Christian and I finished the gate in the opening of a rain storm but we could not stop. Literally just a few screws away from completing it we kept working and finally had it complete. It was a design that opens upward and as the gate comes together each half contributes half a shield to the center so that our logo can be painted on that shield. I was very proud of it but not so proud I remained too much longer in the rain.

The new gate installed - it will be painted and

the crest added to the shield in the future.  I think

of this as a temporary gate until we can afford

one made of metal.

That night we had another great dinner at Christian and Corinne’s. I hope Christian adds the recipes to the blog but suffice it to say I think Corinne’s southern French cooking is worth crowing about. For that matter, Rob also cooked several incredible meals over the course of his visit and I would look forward to his menu additions as well. Eating good food and drinking good wine is so central to the experience of life in the south of France that I sometimes don’t mention it. But literally every meal, right down to sandwiches, can become a truly sensory experience when approached with good ingredients, a modicum of culinary sensibility and a dash of panache!

It was a great wrap up dinner at their house as we had accomplished a great deal in the time I had been there and such a show of good cheer is always important in appreciating the help that people provide. And over in France there is no better help than Christian and Corinne. Whenever any of you visit, with or without me, they are the best resources and guides to the area. Between them they know everyone and how to get to anything. I trust them with anything and everything I have so the message is clear…you will always have a friend in Montlaur when you visit. And it's important to take care of friends.