By LINCOLN SILIAKUS
Last October, I broke the news about two young potential vigneronnes, Carla Giovanelli and Julie Galet.
Well, they were at it again the other day down the back of my garden.
Now that they have picked the grapes and made a 2010 wine, they have turned to the next stage in the winemakers’ life – the winter vine trimming.
Despite its reputation for providing a gentle quality of life, Provence can be crudely cold in winter.
- Carla and Julie rugged up for the task
It may not be easy, but is it really that hard?
- As hard as it looks?
The next step? Maybe we’ll see them driving their great-uncle Serge’s tractor with a plough or spraying a bit of sulphur.
The serious part of this story is that, in common with many villages in Provence, Sablet needs a new generation of winemakers. But that is happening. As well as the charmingly effusive Vasco Perdigao, Frederic Meffre produces a lovely Sablet rouge from vines to the east of Sablet and Pablo Hocht, who works with Louis Barruol at St Cosme, has just started producing a fulsome red from vines on the Plan de Dieu at the opposite end of the appellation.