Tagged with "weather"
Mirabeau on show at the Foodies Festival at Hampton Court
Wines of Provence kindly invited us to attend the Foodies Festival recently and it was a huge amount of fun. And given that it rained the whole week prior to the event and started again on the Tuesday after it finished, I’d say we got really rather lucky with the weather too!
The weather in Provence can drive you crazy. Literally.
When we think of Provence, sun is pretty much the first thing that springs to mind, and lots and lots of it. And with good reason; Provence is the sunniest place in the whole of France with Aix-en-Provence and Toulon leading the way in the league tables.
The devastating frost of 1956
People still talk about the frost of 1956. Whilst only a few locals can claim they witnessed the devastating temperatures first hand, the catastrophic consequences of that February night can be clearly seen today.
Harvest time – so how do we know when the grapes are ready to be picked?
It may seem pretty obvious, but in fact a great deal of care needs to be taken to ensure the grapes are ripe for the particular wine you plan to make. We started our harvest this year in early September, as the first of our grapes became fully ripe. So, what exactly is ripeness in grapes [...]
June 2012 Update – The legal challenge from Gallo
Stephen talks about the past few months at Mirabeau – the legal challenge from Gallo, the hail that has had a big impact on so many of the vineyards in Provence, the new HQ he hopes to be in by next year, his new labels and the most recent bottling. There are still many challenges [...]
Vineyard damage after 13 minutes of hail
Nearly 6,000 hectares of Cotes de Provence and Coteaux Varois vineyards (between 70% to 100%) were destroyed after a heavy hail storm hit south eastern France 27th May 2012.
Is Mirabeau cutting the mustard with Waitrose?
It’s quite early to be discussing a re-listing of Mirabeau for next year already, but as I was in the UK and as the buyer was available for a meeting, I thought I would use the opportunity to see how Waitrose perceives the performance of Mirabeau to date and to try gauge whether we stand [...]
The significance of altitude to grape growing
The vineyards where the grapes for Mirabeau ar grown benefit from that fact that the vines are grown at relatively high altitudes (by Provence standards anyway). Here Angela Muir MW explains the importance of altitude and latitude in grape growing.
Why the age of vines is important with Justin Howard-Sneyd
Justin Howard-Sneyd is the Global Wine Director at Britain’s largest wine company, Laithwaites. Prior to that he was head wine buyer at Waitrose. He is a Master of Wine and winemaker and here he explains why the age of vines is important.
The importance of terroir in Maury, Rousillon with Justin Howard-Sneyd
Justin Howard-Sneyd MW talks about how the unique terroir of Maury imparts special flavours into the wine.
Stephen pontificates about the weather
When in London, Stephen only really looked at the weather forecast to ascertain whether he should take a brolly to work. Now that it has an impact on his livelihood he is taking a great deal more interest.