Well, next Tuesday anyway when I celebrate my deuxieme anniversaire. I'm pretty grown up now and can play the piano, the mouthorgan, and a large funnel into which I fit Daddy's trombone mouthpiece. All the right notes but not necessarily........I'm at nursery at the moment so GP who is over here with Granny can get on with the blog- more dereliction of duty, I have to report, but you can't choose your grandparents apparently.
On the empire front, loads of good news. Firstly a 1/3 page photo of Daddy in the national edition of Le Point http://alturl.com/ztvcu which resulted in a number of orders from a number of countries. Next an article and photo in Cuisines et Vins and finally a plaque recognising the Cote de Feule (Red) as one of the top 12 Jura wines of the year. Given that an increasing amount of time is having to be set aside for Sales and Marketing, all this publicity helps, but rest assured- plenty of bottles still available. A further feather in the cap is the inclusion of 3 of Daddy's wines on the list of the local Michelin 2-star restaurant- not bad considering that it was only his first year of production.
Which leads us on to the 2010 vintage- officially "en conversion à Bio" and so recognised as being produced organically. The first bottling takes place at the end of the month- 3 reds and some oaked whites from 2009, thereby increasing yet further the choice. As if that weren't enough a semi-macvin, a rather delicious sherry-like concoction of grape juice and brandy or marc as it is called in the Jura (and pronounced mar) is about to hit the shelves. Not officially macvin as that requires the marc to be left another 12m in oak but pretty jolly good all the same. Sounds Scottish but is in fact a shortening of marc-vin and has been around since the 1300's.
Well, I hear you cry, what about 2011? Well the Jura has pretty well mirrored the South of England with little rain and plenty of heat- 27° here on Sunday and Monday. The vine flowers came out 3 weeks earlier than last year and the grapes should be harvested 100 days after that, so harvest is looking like the end of August/beginning of September. At present the grapes are very tiny but the danger of a frost at full moon in May seems to have passed. This was the ruination of many crops in years ending in 1 ranging from 1941 onwards and even this year a number of growers were hit. Why there should seem to be a 10-year climate cycle in the Jura is one of God's mysteries! A thorough soaking has occurred over the last 36 hours which has been much-needed. Hopefully it will have abated by tomorrow, Ascension Day, renowned for storms hereabouts (!) as I am hoping to go on a bateau having read all about them in various books. Not thick on the ground here in the mountains, but apparently some about an hour's drive away.
I have received a number of pressies already including a sandpit and paddling pool which were great on Sunday and Monday. Yesterday Mami and Papi came over to lunch which was fun and they brought over a huge toy work bench with plenty of tools which make authentic noises. My favourite is the chainsaw but my efforts with the small peach tree on the terrace don't seem to be appreciated. Mummy's classes in non-aggressive parenting seem to be working though and so far I have avoided a walloping!
The solar panels are working well and we were all very cosy this winter - there is bags of hot water even with the gas off for the last few weeks. GP and Granny leave this weekend and then Auntie Vicky arrives for a couple of days so plenty of English being spoken. Q "Are you a boy or a girl?" A. "Garçon" gets the Brits confused! The next time I see GP and Granny in August I'll be teaching them French! We hope to have a holiday together in Provence near the sea and so my sand-castle practice will stand me in good stead.
GP has just become an official importer of Hughes Béguet Wines into the UK so feel free to place huge orders or recommend him. He has generously/foolishly agreed to waive any fees and so you are buying at imported prices, unfortunately slightly more than the French price as a result of UK duty. God bless Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs!
à bientôt for now
Lots of love
Basti xxx, nearly 2.
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