As far back as my memories go, Harvest was a magical time. La Bousquette is the land that my ancestors bought right after the French Revolution in 1789, and it has a nurtured generations of our family. I remember adoringly looking at my white-haired great Grand-père Charles, with my eyes barely levelling the kitchen table where all sorts of delicious things would soon be tasted.

At age 11, I remember grumpily getting up at 5am with my mother and little brother to go pick the grapes with the team of vendangeurs: some local and some travelling up from Spain for the occasion. Every aspect of harvesting the grapes was hard work; the cutting in unforgiving sun, the carrying of the grapes in buckets over to the horse-driven carriage, where Bayard would patiently wait and then climb up and down these thankless hills day in and day out. The harshness of the work was broken up by the joyfulness of the vendangeurs. For most of them, this was truly a feast-they roomed together somewhere on the property for the duration of the harvest. They ate and drank together, and romances sometimes would emerge but they would be back to picking the grapes again the next day.

It looked and felt just like a classic Van Gogh painting, or a Baudelaire poem. When I look back on it now, I can still see and feel that uniquely reddish rockfish earth, how it was supporting me, talking to be and filling me up. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for these moments of deep connection with my family & my terroir and all forms of life on it.

It is because of my visceral connection to my culture and my roots that I decided to import these unique wines from La Bousquette a few decades ago. They embody that direct connection with nature, that reddish rocky earth that speaks to you. I wanted to share that experience with others and right now, with you. I believe that the wines produced from the fruits of that land will speak to you as well. If you listen, you might hear a cricket and smell and the thyme and rosemary and the pine trees that cradle the grapes. At least, that is my hope!

I wish you a happy Harvest time. Cherish all you’ve learned in the last few months-celebrate it and then move on to our next season, enriched by this Harvest.

To learn more about the wines produced on my family property, you can shop our selection here.