Not too far to drive this morning as I am transporting the 2010 Tertre Bel Air from the northern plateau of Castillon to the Chai. Great terroir here in this little lost corner ... lots of diverse slopes etc Then it begins: phone rings, truck is lost (by about 35miles), quite a few Bel Air's around! Virtually every village in Bordeaux has a Bel Air! I finally find the truck and escort it to the chez Bruno.
Bruno is waiting ... a mountain of a man with a beret on. It's quite a narrow drive and these guys are not used to having their wine taken in bulk (normally bottle themselves and sell locally). Then the nightmare: as truck reverses the wheel comes off the drive. Stuck truck!! Papa Dellac to the rescue.
We taste the wine from a coffee cup - it's the wild west out here - then start pumping. These old tanks have to be pumped over the top - but like Bruno's chai, they've been used every year for the last 100 years. 
I've worked with these vats before and everyone dreads to open the dreaded bottom hole to get the last out. Have to be quick as the wine gushes out!!! Funny triangle taps, every vat has a different tap and special spanner along with a unique technique known only to Bruno!!!
Slowly by slowly I blend the components into the tanker as Bruno has no room here at his old Chai.
Visit laithwaites.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment