Prelude to a harvest

A quiet scene in the town of Tulette.

The day was a busy one at domaine Rouge-Bleu and the harvest didn't officially start until tomorrow. Jean-Marc and one of my fellow harvesters, Daniel, were busy cleaning the wine making equipment and tidying the area in anticipation of the arrival of the rest of the crew.


We had volunteers from California, Illinois, Arizona, Australia, Scotland, myself from Oklahoma and several from various areas in France, all converging upon this organic vineyard via the proverbial "trains, planes and automobiles". Among our group were a professional photographer and teacher, a student, bartender, wine seller, wine making intern and numerous other professions, who had come together to work the fields, share their stories and find a common bond in spite of any language barriers.


Before the others began to arrive, Kristi and I had the opportunity to visit the nearby town of Tulette, which is in the middle of the wine making area of the Rhone Valley. Its ancient stone buildings dated back to the 12th century, with pastel facades and clay tile roffs completing the picturesque scene.

A view from the window of our apartment.

Nearby, were our apartments where the seven of us would be staying for the two week long harvest. The rooms were comfortable, well appointed and full of the warm ambiance normally associated with the Mediterranean area of France. Soon after settling in, we were invited downstairs to the courtyard for drinks by the owners of the apartments, Monsieur Hubert and his madame, a colorful couple in their late 70's or early 80's.

We spent a spirited hour or more discussing our lives, politics, families and the monsier's experiences during WWII, while he used this time to "size" us up and ultimately declare us to be "aimiable", thus giving us the seal of approval to stay within his walls.

With pastis and other French aperitifs flowing freely, M. Hubert's speech became more animated, picking up speed with every drink he consumed. His wife finally convinced him to leave the table at the same time that Jean-Marc arrived to take us back to the vineyard for a pizza party to open the 2010 harvest season.

With wines from previous harvests flowing, we mingled with new friends as we polished off close to 20 pizzas, various crudites, salad and dessert. Jean-Marc gave us an impromptu tour of the wine "cave", where the just harvested rose was fermenting and where we would be spending part of the next two weeks.

The evening soon wound to a close and we all drifted back to our temporary homes to prepare for the 8am start to our new adventure.

A view of the vineyards from the house.

Enjoying a pastis with M. Hubert and the Mrs.