Hail, frost, the vine and the winegrower

Nature remains the boss and knows how come back as a reminder of anyone who would forget it. Obviously, the winegrowers don’t belong to  this category. They daily work with it and have the memory of at least one painful event. Hail storms last year, unexpected frost on may this year, belong to theses bad memories. In fact, how protect […]

The dovecote in the cognac vineyards

On the top of the hill, it looks great and proud amongst the vineyards. Without  doubt it  is one of the most interessant dovecote of the cognac  region and one of the most important. Built with the white limestone from Charente,  this « pigeon loft »  has crossed more than 300 years… Welcome to the Pigeonnier d’Ardenne.

Pruning work and binding the vines in all weathers

Whatever the weather, morning frost, rainy day, or cold wind, day after day, hooded men and women work in vineyards. What happen so important in winter to be there ? Pruning is a key work in vineyards life. Each gesture is important as it really engages the grow up of the vine, the quality of […]

Chilling january in vineyards

It’s quite unusual in Cognac region  to have such low températures withing the day :  -7°C or -9°C. I presume that the scandinavian and canadian friends of the blog will just  smile and think that it’s out of mind to say it’s cold, but for us, it is ! A white coat on the roofs and landscapes till noon, is quite exceptionnal. […]

December between culture and viticulture

31 very intense days, as usual on december, to be ready for Christmas and new year holidays. Back in pictures on some highlights.

Cognac harvest days, the crunch time

After a year of hard work, hoping that the weather conditions would be nice enough till the cognac harvest time, the single most important decision of the winegrower   is to choose the right day to begin harvest. It looks like  a very subtle balance betweeen professionnal skills and intuition, and requires a fair amount of experience. Needless to say that […]