Wednesday, October 15, 2008


TRADITIONALLY MADE, AS NATURE INTENDED.
The ladies of Club Brive tread the grapes.

On a lovely sunny day, the ladies of Club Brive arrived at the Domaine du Merchien to handpick the grapes and then get their feet stuck into making some wine. It was a multi-nation event with England, Wales, South Africa, Ireland, France and Argentina all represented.

They knew nothing about how wine was made, and the process in the fields and in our chai. So whilst we picked we told them how it was done and then before lunch, we showed them the chai and grapes we had picked a few weeks before fermenting away in the cuves alongside grapes from the previous two years which will be bottled in 2009/2010. Then we loaded up the presses with the grapes they had picked and they all climbed in. They loved it; jumping up and down the juices soon began to flow as they crushed the grapes to a pulp.

Our lasting memory of the day:- one lady, who will remain nameless, was nearly banished for admitting she only ever drank red wine with cola! We soon changed that over a long lunch as they sampled the 2006 vintage, which was picked in 2005 and had just been bottled a few weeks before.

Jo Popham wife Alix Popham (Wales); Uhlandi Vosloo wife Gerhard Vosloo (South Africa) plus daughter Lara; Nathalie Estabanez wife Fabrice Estabanez (France); Fanny Jeuvrey girfirend Arnaud Pic (France); Lisa Thomas girlfriend Barry Davies (Wales); Roxy Nel girlfriend Scott Spedding (South Africa); Mirium Short wife Christian Short (Ireland); Victoria Henn wife Pablo Henn (Argentina

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