Nothing to do with champagne, but since today happens to be my birthday, I thought I'd mention that in France February 2nd is the day they celebrate "Chandeleur" a very old Christian feast day, with ties to the pagan cult of the bear, which as everyone knows is also related to Ground Hog's day. Anyway, the tradition here in France is to serve Crèpes for dinner - which I thought might go well with our "Cuvée Douceur" - Enjoy ! (and by the way, it was nice and sunny today but the thermometer is heading way south - guess the groundhog  is back in hibernation winter is here for a while!)

Cela n'a rien à voir avec le vin, mais puisque aujourd'hui c'est mon anniversaire, je pensais   aux différentes fêtes qui sont célébrées le 2 Février. Savez-vous qu'aux Etats Unis c'est le jour de la marmotte? Si elle sort de son terrier et voit son ombre, elle prend peur et elle y retourne, présageant encore 6 semaines d'hiver. Si la journée est couverte, elle sortira définitivement et le printemps arrivera tôt. Le Chandeleur a aussi des origines similaires, car c'est lié à la culte païen de l'ours. En tout cas, on a bien l'intention de consommer quelques crêpes, accompagnées d'une coupe de notre "Cuvée Douceur" !

This weekend we'll be commemorating the 1911 uprising of the winegrowers in the Aube region. It's really an integral part of understanding the history of Champagne and especially its growth and organization in the 20th century. Here's a synopsis, which I'll try not to make too long, but it's a bit complicated:

At the end of the 19th century the vineyards in Champagne, as in the rest of France, were decimated by the phyloxera bug, which destroyed about  50 % of the plants. In addition to that, other hard to control diseases such as mildew and rot were taking their toll and diminishing yields.

To add insult to injury, the Big Negociants, which at the time were the only ones producing champagne and thus controlled the market, were sourcing less expensive grapes from other regions of France, practically destroying the local grape economy and encouraging fraud. The situation of the champagne grape growers was pretty dismal, and in 1908 they managed to put pressure on the government to create an official growing area for champagne grapes. BUT this law EXCLUDED the Aube region !

Obviously enough, the growers here were none too happy about that, and they continued to protest, culminating in a huge demonstration  in 1911. In response, the government amended the law to include the Aube, but they called it "2nd Zone Champagne" - and they had to put that on their labels if they produced champagne! Can you imagine buying a bottle of wine with a label saying it was basically "Second Rate"?! Fortunately for us, the people in the Aube battled on, and finally, in 1927, they were fully integrated into the official Champagne wine growing region.

This is when a lot of forward thinking individuals, including Thierry's great-grandfather and grand father, seized the opportunity to become champagne producers themselves - and there are now an amazing number of small and interesting champagne houses in the Aube.

The only thing that lingers on from that period is the notion of "Grand Cru" and "Premier Cru" champagnes, to which the grapes grown here in our region do not have access. But I won't get into that debate, which remains a bit of a moot point between the "Marnais" and the "Aubois"

Here's a link to a nice video (in French) with illustrations and interviews about the commemoration.

Ce weekend nous allons commémorer les vignerons du début du siècle qui se sont battus pour obtenir et garder l'appellation champagne dans le vignoble Aubois. Voici une petit vidéo qui explique mieux que moi ce qui s'est passé il y a 100 ans

 The currant cold spurt in these first few days of May (after two weeks in late April of glorious, almost summer temps) got me thinking about weather patterns and farmer folklore in France. Every year around this time the temperature drops suddenly and we nervously fret about  the risk of spring frost.  In France they call this period the "Saints de Glaces" which follows the "lune rousse". I never really knew what they were referring to, so I thought I'd take  a closer look.

I first found out that the "Saints de Glaces" refers to three saint's days, St Mamet, (May 11th) St Pancrace (May 12), and St Servais (May 13th). Farmers would pray to these saints because the dates coincided with a phenomena of dropping temperatures observed during the "lune rousse" (not "lune Russe", which I mistakenly thought it referred to) which is the the first full moon following Easter.

Actually, as I learned, the month of May corresponds to the end of the rapidly circulating  winter meteorological systems in the northern hemisphere, but the passage of cold fronts can still occur. If there is an anticyclone and the sky is clear, heat loss can be relatively serious, especially at night, and thus the early morning killer frosts in the vineyards. In English they say "Red moon, frost soon" - basically, if you can see the full moon at this time of year, there's a greater chance of frost.

So far the skies are overcast, and it looks like the temperature is on the rise, so although we're still keeping our fingers crossed, hopefully we'll get past this period and on to the next....

En cette période de froid, après nos deux semaines de températures presque estivales

je me penche sur la question du folklore Français, et plus particulièrement sur les  "Saints de Glace" et la 'Lune Rousse", car nous sommes dans cette période de l'année où nous pouvons craindre les fameuses gelées de printemps.

Avant de venir en France, je n'en avais jamais entendu parler, surtout venant d'une grande ville avec un climat complètement différent (Chicago, plutôt continental). J'ai d'abord appris qu'il s'agissait de vrais Saints : St Mamet, St Pancrace et St Servais dont leur jour de fête tombent le 11,12, et 13 mai. Les agriculteurs du Nord de l'Europe les imploraient de les proteger des effets dévastateurs de la baisse des températures qui arrivait souvent après la "lune rousse" (et non pas la "lune Russe" dont je pensais qu'il s'agissait.... )  C'est à dire la pleine lune après Pâques.

En réalité il s'agit plutôt du cycle météorologique, car bien que le mois de mai corresponde à la fin des rapides circulations des systèmes météorologiques de l'hiver, des fronts froids peuvent encore se produire. Si jamais le ciel se dégage et que le temps reste clair, la chaleur s'échappe, surtout la nuit, ce qui provoque nos fameuses gelées matinales de printemps. Donc ce phenomène tout à fait normal demeure trés risqué et nous devons faire avec!!! Pour le moment, le ciel est plutôt couvert, et pour une fois on préfère un peu de nuages.  Croisons les doigts pour que les "saints de glace" passent inaperçus!

La statue de Notre Dame de la Vigne enneigée :
Our Lady of the Vigneyard statue on snow covered hill :


On a pas souvent de la neige dans notre région, donc ça mérite quelques photos! Les températures sont descendues à - 15°. On ne touchera pas à la vigne pendant quelque temps...ça tombe bien, c'est bientôt Noël!
We don't have much snow fall in our region of France, so a few photos are called for. Temperatures fell to below freezing, so we won't be working in the vineyards any time soon....which suits us fine, since Christmas is fast approaching !