Domaine De La Perdrix

Another great weekend visiting with our friend Jean-Marc near Perpignan, close to the Spanish Border. This weekend he brought us to visit a friend of his who, along with his wife Virginie, owns a winery. Andre Gil introduced us to his operation with a personal tour of his operation that has been in the family for more than 200 years.  www.domaine-perdrix.com. As the tour progressed,  it became evident that Andre was absolutely passionate about creating wines and really enjoyed what he is doing.

We were able to ask alot of questions and get a good understanding of the industry, the economy and the requirements of a successful wine producer. I gathered enough info to make a definate co-relation between ranching in Canada and wine producing in France and that it's not all romance and easy living.

The Cave where all the wines are initially handled

This year's wine right from the vat.

Sabine and Carol

 After  tasting this year's  wines right out of the vats and getting a general understanding of the different grapes and their characters, we headed into the cave (cellar) proper to taste some of the mature wines. Andre opened several different barrels to support his explanation of this important part of the the wine making process. The barrels are all of white oak..... things started to get fuzzy here....

Carol getting in on the action.

Andre Gil, Me and Jean-Marc in the
heart of the Cave.

Turnscrew for a wine press
carved from one piece of wood.

The grande finale to the tour was, not only tasting one of the Domaine's white wines that has been stored in a white oak barrel for 20 years, but finding out that Andre is a big blues fan and has a fantastic sound system hooked up in the formal tasting room. Here we rocked it out to some great blues artists while purchasing some wine to enjoy at home. All and all it was a memorable tour, and this personal tour of  the domaine by Andre really opened up our eyes to the industry.

Final du Trophy des Raseteurs

My interest was aroused when I found out that teasing the bulls (see our first post) is actually a tradition in this area and there is a formal organization and competition. These guys are called "raseteurs" and compete in a series of these events to acumulate points for a final trophy. The French Championship was being held in a nearby town so I drove down to check it out for myself.

There is always the band to support all the pomp and ceremony.

The horn has sounded and all the Raseteurs enter the ring with the intent to get close enough to the bull to remove little "tie wraps" that are tied to the base of the bulls horns. Whoever gets the most within a set time, wins. The technique is easy to follow here. The guys are all built like hocky sticks and extremely agile. They run past in front of the bull and as the bull tries to gore him, they twist around (while running full out) and try to pluck the tie wrap off the horn using a little steel comb.

Every once in a while the bull will get a chance to rub a raseteur into the ground but, like rodeo clowns, the rest of the guys jump in and distract the bull long enough for the "rubbie" to get to safety. You can see more video at www.ffcc.info  Enjoy.

Half Marathon

It only hurts when I breathe.

Carol and I completed a half-marathon today in the nearby village of Sommieres. The route left the medievil town and  meandered along shaded laneways, past vineyards and farms before looping back and re-entering town on an old railway bed converted to a bicycle path. Really a beautiful way to see France. We are both a little sore tonight, but really enjoyed the day.
Entering running events in France is much less costly than at home. 17 Euros to enter a fully supported event. Whooo! We are going to do one again next week just because they are so affordable!