Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Bonne Annee
The first day of the New Year, and finally, the first sunny day we've had since we arrived. The sun shone on the Mediterranean and on the vast hillside comprising the peninsula that makes up Ramatuelle, outside our bedroom balcony window. For the first time the temperature ventured more into the realm of what we were expecting from the long term forecast we had read before leaving, which was a pleasant (Canadian) Fall-like 15C or so.

Before the guests left the chateau, Joseph gave several of them a tour of the winery, and this time I tagged along. First we visited one small building holding about a half-dozen small casks of white vines. One of the visiting friends of Josephs expertly used a pipette to withdraw enough wine for those collected around to sample. We each had a small mouthful from each barrel, with a couple being very dry, one fruity and another with a sharp tinge of acid. Any wine left in our glasses was collected and poured back into the same cask that it has come from. We then ventured over to a larger building holding at least 50 barrels of different types of red wines, and started sampling a few representative casks. One was heavy with tannin so that it seemed to coat one's teeth, another with a full herbaceous taste, and yet another as smooth as could be. It was interesting because while I have been to several wine tastings before, I've never sampled an unfinished product. The seemingly knowledgeable fellow who was drawing the wine samples assured Joseph that when the contents from each of the wines would make for a good balanced blend.

Soon after I left the party and soon found Gord – now fully recovered from his bought of flu – in the middle of a long row of grape vines doing his favourite thing: pruning grape vines. Jennifer was there too, and soon after we were joined by Vanessa and the girls. Gord has an expert's hand when it comes to grape plant pruning, and he explained the idea that one has to trim the excess branches that are not growing along the track you wish them to grow on. The idea is to have the plants expend their energies growing both up and along the wire fencing that is set up astride them, so that they do not waste their energy growing as a simple bush as they would do if left on their own. This makes the grape yield much more consistent in taste, allows for a more efficient use of any fungicides and pesticides, and it also makes it easier for the pickers who do not have to go hunting for grape clusters in every nook and cranny. It is interesting to note that there is no consistency in the growing style amongst all of the other vineyards in the area – many grape plants are simply spindly bushes, others use fencing similar to Joseph's. It turns out that the difference is reflected in the quality of grapes that are grown – this area of France, with its wet Winters and dry, hot Summers is generally not known for producing much in the way of quality wine, but rather wine in bulk. Grapes grown on the spindly bushes are ultimately destined for basic, relatively low-grade table wine, whereas those grape plants that are actively pruned and trained produce higher-quality wines. Since Joseph has a relatively small farm, his goal is to focus on quality rather than quantity.

For lunch we headed out to Club 55, located one of the beaches close to the town of San Tropez. The place was bustling, with many people meeting friends and choruses of "Bonne Annee". Wafts of cigarettes and cigar smoke as well the as the occasional yapping from more "purse dogs" punctuate the scene. (This place definitely has too much of both of these for my liking). There is no doubt that this is a place to "see and be seen" at. I gather that this is place is well-known as a celebrity hang-out, but I am not in tune with this scene and am much more intent on keeping the children happy and occupied.

The kids had some pomme frites and fish, and I had a delicious steak tartar – it was nice to have a non-seafood meal for a change. ;-) Joseph had obtained a table in a prominent spot at the restaurant and it was the first of the multi-hour lunches that is apparently the custom – part of the "see and be seen" culture. The kids soon got restless as did Erika and I, and we escorted the kids to the beach, where they played in the sand and ran to and fro from the lapping waves of the Mediterranean. Club 55 handed out small paper bags emblazoned with their name, and inside was a pocket-sized all-metal wine opener, engraved with the name of the club contained within a small leather pouch wishing us a "Bonne Annee".

Dinner was "leftovers", but what leftovers! Oysters aplenty for those who liked them, as well as more lobster, prawns and muscles. This evening the English contingent outnumbered the French around the table, and the talk was much more raucous. The English-speaking contingent later decamped to the lounge and over a roaring fire and supplied with copious amounts of good red wine from a local vineyard, played Scattergories into the wee hours.