I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since Austin and I left for France! It’s been such a whirlwind and a great learning experience. We are in the Bordeaux area staying at a vineyard and helping some family friends harvest their grapes! They are such a wonderful couple! We have been given a great place to stay and fed simple yet delicious meals. Now our plan is to stay for a second week as well given that our experience thus far has exceeded our expectations.

The Region: We are in the Sauternes area along the Garonne river. This region is known for a specific mold that grows on the grapes that gives the white wine a perfect balance of sweet flavors, making it the wine of choice for rich nobles before sugar was discovered in the Americas. It’s called “botrytis” or more commonly known as “Noble Rot.” The Noble Rot dehydrates the grape while keeping the sugar levels. The process is quite fascinating and you can read more about it in the link: Noble Rot – Winefolly

Our Hosts: Steve and Diana have been in the wine industry for 25+ years.

The Steve: Hails from Buckinghamshire, England and lived in the US for many years. He worked in sales and marketing at Veuve Clicquot, Pahlmeyer, Bergstrom and more in the US!

The Diana: Reigns from Tucson, AZ and travelled in Up with People, which is how we even knew about them. Diana worked with Robert Mondavi, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Obsidian Ridge (just to name a few) as a national sales director in the US as well!

It is an honor learning from them 😊🍇🍷🥂

Their story: In 2017, they decided that they wanted to have their own vineyard and to make their own wine in France, so they did (super cool)! They have a beautiful property with views of rolling hills, vineyards, sunrises and sunsets. There is a cute little apartment connected to to the Château that they rent out for Airbnb alongside their winemaking. Château la Corne – AirB&B

The harvesting: All of last week we harvested the Semillon grape. Our days (Monday-Saturday) have been filled by picking grapes from 8am – 6pm with a group lunch thrown in there with spectacular food! There are about 5 others who have retired here in the region and like to stay busy by helping with harvest. It’s also a great way to stay social and to interact with fellow neighbors. All of them have been so welcoming to us. Jack is one of the retirees who has been doing this for years and is a complete jokester which makes the picking go by much faster. The materials we need while picking are our hands, clippers and a bucket. The old vineyards here are too narrow to be picked by machines. It’s not easy work but it’s so rewarding! We can see the silver lining at the end of each day.

It’s important to get the Semillon off the vine as soon as possible as Steve and Diana are bio and the Noble Rot is only good for so long. We also needed to be picky (pun intended) and make sure we harvested only the best from the vines! It was so tiring the first few days. Just standing and picking under the hot sun my legs were so exhausted. I hadn’t felt such physical exhaustion since my Up with People days! After day four my body was used to it and it become second nature. It took a total of five days to harvest the white grapes. They have already been pressed and are now in the fermenting phase of their life. It smells amazing! Steve and Diana have been showing and teaching Austin so much about the different ways to ferment and how to do it properly for which kinds of grapes. There’s so much to learn!

The lesson: The most important lesson we have learned from Steve and Diana is that there is always something to learn with wine. There is so much and its ever changing. Noble Rot happened on accident because a nobleman told his harvesters to wait until he got back. It took so long that mold grew on them. They harvested anyway and BOOM! – Noble Rot became a thing.

Now that the white grapes have been harvested we start with the red today!

“In victory you deserve Champagne. In defeat, you need it” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more about our trip!