la gramiere

Keeping things fun at La Gramière~!

I have a short attention span.  In fact if was I growing up now, I'm sure I'd be tagged as mildly ADD or ADHD or whatever they're calling it now.  Instead I grew up as a happy, creative kid, that needed a bit of "direction" from time to time. Since buying vineyards 8 years ago, I've been forced to stay in one place and to focus on the project at hand instead of flitting around from project to project.  Which at times has been very trying for me.  In the beginning I blogged a lot, it was a fun way to communicate with the outside world, but year after year I felt like I was saying the same things; if it's January it must be pruning, April budbreak, July bottling, September harvest and so on. The novelty wore off, so I little by little have stopped blogging virtually all together.  But today is different, today I have a new, fun project and I want to share it with you!

Drum roll please!!!

Announcing the new La Gramière Super Truck!:

Well, it's going to be anyway...

We bought it way back in January and ever since then it's been at the mechanic's getting some required work before it will pass the 'road worthy' test here in France.

This is what it looked like a couple of weeks ago:

And this is what it looks like today!  It has passed the test and is now ready for the road, and a new paint job!

I know, not much different than the first photo, but now all of the lights and turn signals work, it has two new tires and all the little kinks have been fixed!

The next step is to paint it and make an opening on the side so that we can serve wine from the inside to our customers standing at the bar on the outside!  It's going to be a mobile tasting room of sorts.  We're going to do evening tastings with tapas and wine, sometimes in our vineyards as the sun goes down, sometimes in the surrounding villages!  We are also going to be inviting guest "vignerons" to pour their wines along with ours, and guest chefs to cook for us!  Sounds fun doesn't it?

When we're finished painting and converting it I hope it will look something like this, with a little more color, but it gives you and idea:

I promise to post more pictures as we progess!  But plan on coming out for a glass of wine and some yummy treats this summer! 

Oh, and we need a name for it, any ideas??

 

La Gramière at Garagiste Wine - today only!

Once again Jon Rimmerman of www.garagistewine.com  is offering our wine!  This time it's the 2009 vintage and he loved it. To order is easy just send an email to nicki@garagistewine.com and tell her how many bottles you'd like (anywhere from 1 to 36).  They'll take care of the rest, but you only have today to do it!

Here's what Rimmerman had to say about our wine:

Smile

Dear Friends,

I'm so happy to have made this wine a personal friend.

It cuts through the clouds – cuts through the sea of uncertainty and does so with the most honest and well-intentioned character one could imagine. It is there when I need it, listening, pondering and giving back only the most heartfelt advice.

In this wine, I find peace...which is saying nothing and everything at once.

In the same vein as my selection of Chambers St as the top retailer of 2011, you never feel as though La Gramière has an agenda – there is no motivation to sell anything and no motivation to win you over by promoting, marketing or wishing for something that could (and should) come naturally to those that choose to amble through an evening or two with a kindred spirit that eventually becomes a confidant.

In wine, that confidant is La Gramière.

With their tiny and special BIO/organic property, Amy Lillard and Matt Kling have made it ok to be a simple Grenache/Syrah VdT. They have changed the notion of “country-French” from a furniture aesthetic to one of winemaking bravado where rustic equals regal. The time spent in the vineyard and in the cellar, cajoling their offspring to a point where it can fly on its own, is almost unreal – worth far more in a monetary sense than they could ever recoup for their effort. 

Then why do it?

That question is answered as soon as you pull the cork.

Not that it is new news - we profiled this heart-warming Southern Rhone property (and story) last year but that was the 2008 vintage – a wonderful success in a year that required meticulous hand-picking and sorting grape by grape to achieve anything of substance (which they did with aplomb). 

This, on the other hand, is 2009 and I can predict with my usual fortune-tellers fairy dust that the 2009 La Gramière “La Gramière” (the winery’s top effort) will be among the most popular wines we bring to your table in 2012 – it is a rolling ball of lip-smacking, bursting-at-the-seems, fresh and downright delicious red fruit that you want to keep pulling from your holster again and again. It has sophistication beyond its years but also a naïveté that is equally alluring. The fruit is so natural, fresh and pure in composition, you taste it intertwined with the ripe vintage in such a way that the two are never confused (a nearly impossible achievement for any winemaker – i.e. this wine tastes like La Gramière first and foremost and the vintage second).

In the end, as with any bottle of wine you decide to engage in a relationship, however brief – a dalliance or a long-term proposal, it must speak to you, understand who you are and why you’ve chosen to be you...

...or it just tastes darn good.

With La Gramière, you have both.

This parcel is directly from the cellar at La Gramière, hand picked, packed, labeled and loved by Amy and Matt – from their hands to yours:

2009 La Gramière “La Gramière” VdT (Castillon du Gard) - $16.83
(to compare US pricing, you have to look at the 2008 vintage – this is not the NV wine)

FIRST COME FIRST SERVED at this tariff up to 36/person until we run out:

To order: nicki@garagistewine.com

 

Dropping fruit, preharvest

Here's another look at harvest prep:

 

We're not going to so this in all of our vineyards, just in a few spots where the vines seem to be over loaded.  We'll see if it has the desired effect!  Funny, I look like I just bit into a lemon!

2011 Harvest update

Well it's August 18th and we are gearing up for harvest!  Right now things are looking great, but we need the hot weather to hold out for another two weeks, and no more rain!  If we are unlucky and get rain in early September, we'll be scrambling to get the grapes in before they rot. If the weather holds, it could be a great vintage!  

Untitled from Amy Lillard on Vimeo.

 

A little powdered sulfur

For the vines, that is!  We got up at o'dark thirty the other day to do a "poudrage" on the vineyards  that 
are in flower.  A "poudrage" is simply blowing powdered sulfur onto the vines to protect them against mildew, but also to help with fruit set.  Grenache is a tricky varietal in that it often has problems with shatter.  Shatter means that the fruit doesn't set.  Often we'll have beautiful big bunches of flowers and then the tiny little grapes will just fall off after flowering. In 2010 many wineries in the southern Rhône lost up to 30% of their crops due to shatter.  Powedered sulfur is supposed to help with that, keeping my fingers crossed that it will.  That and the fact that the weather has been beautiful here, not much wind so maybe we'll be lucky and have a bumper crop this year!

We've done it only once before mostly due to the fact that it has to be perfectly still when you do the "poudrage" otherwise it just blows away, and the temps can't be above 27 degrees C for 24 hours after you do it or it creates sulfur gases and can burn the vegetation.  This time we weather was perfect and as you can see the powder just hung over the vines.  Here's to hoping for a bumper crop in 2011! 

Note my high-tec gear to protect my nose and eyes, getting sulfur in either would be quite painful!! A pretty good self-portrait, don't you think??

What's going on at La Gramière? Spring vineyard work!

Here's a little film I took the other morning in our Roussanne vineyard.  Lot's of work to do at this time of year, luckily we only have a few vineyards with wires to drop.  The rest are "en gobelet" or head pruned or bush vines, whatever you like to call it, but it means that they don't have wires, which I much prefer!  That way you can walk across the vineyards in any direction you like, criss-crossing at will!  It's much better than having to walk all the way down the row in order to get to the other side, especially if the rows are long, like they are in this vineyard.   

La Gramière chez Garagiste!

We are oh so very proud that today our 2008 is being offered by Jon Rimmerman of www.garagiste.com!!  It must have been about a year ago when Eric Asimov of the New York Times wrote an article about inter-state wine shipping featuring Garagiste.  Before that I had been missing out on all of Rimmerman's great emails offering wines from far flung corners of the world (the US included), all artisanally produced in small quantities, and all, thanks to Jon's wonderful descriptions, seemingly irresistible!  I immediately signed up to receive their mailings, and was just as immediately smitten.  Jon has a way of making you want to taste a wine, making you feel as though need to taste a wine. I especially remember an email about a small Swiss winery, that in order to get to it, you had to take a ski-lift to access the property. These are things that make us dream and these are the reasons we love wine, it enables us to discover an in-discoverable place, to taste what we cannot taste at home. 

If I lived in the states and could actually order these wines, this is the moment I would thank Jon for making these amazingly obscure wines available to me, but instead, I live in the middle of nowhere in France.  Try, just go ahead and try, to get a Swiss wine here in the south of France, not to mention one that was made high up on a mountain top where only the most determined wine lover would persevere to the point of arriving at the winery!  Well, thanks to Jon I now have a list of wines that I need, someday, to find, to taste, to drink, to discover.  It might be a bit frustrating, but at least I have a goal!  Below I have copied the text from the email that Jon sends out to the over 100,000 people on his mailing list.  Just one small problem you will notice....  Nowhere does he mention that I (we) have done all of this with the help of my most amazing husband Matt Kling.  Matt is well over 50% of this operation, especially on the days when I really would rather let the vines grow wild and run away to Paris.  So please, please, please remember that my dear, dear Matt has given his heart and soul to this project as much as I have!!

Many many thanks to David Honig of Palate Press, who first tasted our 2008 told me that this was just the kind of wine that Garagiste would love... To Alice Feiring who sent the email that put me in the hot seat and in touch with Jon in the first place!  And to Jon Rimmerman for liking the wine, and for his willingness to take a chance on us!!

Yippee!

So if you're one of the many people who have emailed me over the past year asking where you can get our wine, here's your chance!  You're especially lucky if you live in Seattle, then you can just go pick it up when it arrives!!

Below is the Gargiste email sent out today:

 La Gramière

Dear Friends,

If you’ve ever considered throwing caution to the wind, abandoning your correct/acceptable life and picking up and moving to France, let today’s inspirational siren be your guide...Amy Lillard, a “modern meets traditional” woman who also happens to be one of the top up and coming voices of organic viticulture in the emerging district of Saint Quentin la Poterie.

Long-time Garagiste Email List members will recall my excitement over this region to the west and across the Rhone from Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  A loosely knit group of hamlets that stretch from Uzes to Bagnols (that can reach as far north as Vinezac in the Ardeche, where Garagiste favorite Mas de Bagnols hails from). Here, the base elevation is higher, the vineyards are more rugged and the Mercedes and Porsche bandwagon stays on the other side of the Rhone. This area remains untouched in many ways with old-vine Rhone varietals that have flourished untamed by the designs of man but the terroir and profuse minerality in the soil are begging to be bottled.

With far easier routes to call home, one wonders how Any Lillard decided to plant her future in this untapped zone. Call it a beacon or a feeling, but the first time she stepped foot on the land, the warmth of home fell over her and the decision was already made. Have you ever been somewhere for the first time but it feels as though you’ve always been there or were meant to stay? That’s what I'm talking about, but most of us only relish it for a few hours or few days while on vacation (and dream of making it real) - Amy actually picked up her boot-straps and set out to call La Gramière home...

That was nearly ten years ago and the toil, tears and flat-out grueling work (picture Under the Tuscan Sun meets La Remise) have resulted in a wine that is nothing short of exhilarating. It is the Southern essence of its place and of its vintage (in this case, a surprisingly full and delineated 2008). From Grenache and Syrah, raised only in traditional cement vats, nothing was added to this wine and nothing was taken away. It smells and tastes of the sage-brush hillsides that dot the Mediterranean coast of France and I’ve even nick-named it “Airwick Amy” for it’s ability to permeate the room with its kirsch and lavender whiff. It is such an unforced expression with very fine, feminine tannins but it also knows when to allow the rock fruit and masculine palate coverage this region provides come to the fore. The alcohol is moderate (13.8%) and the vibrant framework is pure and alive. The best word I can use to sum up the experience one receives from this wine is: honest.

La Gramière is one of the most exciting new properties in the South of France. The 2008 La Gramière “La Gramière” is a natural wine for all of us – a wine that proves organic and BIO are not symbols of a college town cooperative but a symbol of “right here right now”. A symbol that means something.

Thanks Amy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for integrity of expression bred of bright flavors and colors that are like a well-earned respite of fresh-from-the-garden cooking after too many nights of fast food...

This parcel is directly from the winery cellar with perfect provenance:

2008 La Gramière “La Gramière” - $17.98
(this wine is VERY RARE – one small shipment only)

Please give us your maximum number up to 12/person and we will allocate accordingly

To order: nicki@garagistewine.com

This parcel is set to depart the cave – it will arrive in the late spring (please check OARS for local pick-up after May 15th). It will ship during the Fall shipping season (unless moderate weather allows us to ship in late May). While delicious today, be sure to uncork the wine and allow it to breath for several hours, it is no hurry of consumption - drink 2012-2016+.

Out of state orders will be held for free under ideal storage conditions (56 degrees/70%humidity) until shipping is possible.  Locals may pick up at their leisure.

For current local pick up and arrival/ship information, please see your OARS link below (at the bottom of this offer) - don’t know how to access your OARS? Simply click the link and see your account.  You can also paste the link into your browser.  If you are having trouble with your link or your account, please contact: support@garagistewine.com

NO SALES TO RETAILERS OR WHOLESALERS

Thank you,

Jon Rimmerman
Garagiste
Seattle, WA

Loire5770

 
 
To view the status of your orders in O.A.R.S click here <http://garagistewine.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=56d65bf1a116c6344d5846def&id=6a6780530a&e=7ecea964a7>

***
Please note our new return policy-
If you are dissatisfied with your purchase for any reason, please call our toll free number 888-264-0053 or email us within 7 days of original invoice receipt and we will credit or exchange: melisa@garagistewine.com

We adhere to these strict policies
Up to 7 days of email invoice receipt: we accept all returns.
7-21 days after email invoice receipt: any invoiced order cancelled will incur a 25% restocking/cancellation fee and this includes pre-arrival orders. After 21 days of receipt of email invoice (not the actual wine): we will accept no returns.

If the wine is flawed/corked then please let us know as soon as possible - we will resolve the issue with your best interest in mind. Flawed wine does not mean "I don't like it".

While we do everything in our power to insure your wine is of the finest stock available in the world, WINE PURCHASED THAT IS OLDER THAN 10 YEARS IS NOT GUARANTEED IN ANY WAY.

***

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Ça joue! Playtime!

Les chiots ont maintenant 5 semaines, ils découvrent, ils jouent, ils se régalent!

The puppies are now 5 weeks old, they are in full discovery mode, they play all of the time and are so much fun!!  Here's a slide show and a video:

 

 

Ca va vite!!! Things are moving around here! Puppies galore!

Voici encore un petit film pris il y a deux jours... ou je parle en anglais, on leur a donné des noms pour les differencier l'un de l'autre... Violet, Mirabelle, Squeaky, Rusty, Peanut, Thunder (tonnerre), Lightning (éclair), et Goldie!  Leurs yeux sont ouverts et ils font leurs dents, et sa joue!!!

Here's another short film I took 2 days ago, they are now playing lots, their eyes are open and their teeth are coming in.  We gave them all names: Violet, Mirabelle, Squeaky, Rusty, Peanut, Thunder, Lightning and Goldie! 

 

Les Chiots Hovawart grandissent! The Puppies are growing!!

Here's a short viedo of the puppies taken yesterday, they are growing fast!  All are happy and healthy and very squeaky!!

Voici un petit film des chiots pris hier, ils grandissent vite!  Tous sont heureux, en bonne santé et font pas mal de petits bruits adorables!