Summer Bleuvin', 2014
Hello, CheneBleunophiles!
Nicole, here: apologies for the Radio Silence while I've been busily trawling the globe - thought I'd check in with little report from over the Summer months, in case you've been wondering what the team and I have been up to... :)
I'll be in Athens, Switzerland and Hong Kong over the next few weeks, and Team Bleu are now in the wonderfully frenzied run-up to harvest, so watch this space for an in-depth report, soon! In the meanwhile... our experimental plantings continue, and our newest little additions to our family of vines have arrived....
In the Vineyard & Winery
Babsitting our New Plantlings
Amazing Benedicte and her team have been busy with the back-breaking work of yanking out the inevitable 'biodynamic weeds' and shaking things up by planting some Mourvèdre, Clairette, Vermentino and more Grenache Blanc. This is a decidedly delicate and decisive point in the process, as the young vines are very vulnerable - am eager to see them grow up into fine, young vinelings! In general, as all of our friends in Europe will have experienced first-hand, we've encountered summer rain galore, but summer was also rhythmically punctuated with persistent gusts of Mistral, helping to keep the vines healthy, and ensuring that only the most promising fruits develop.
In the winery, our Resident Oenomaster, Jean-Louis, has been experimenting with new blends for our 2011 Heloise and 2012 collection, and the bottling of our 2010 Abelard, Heloise and Astralabe is in full swing, after their lovely, lengthy family holiday in French oak. What's more, our new Viognier will be coming out later this year...
It's Raining Gold
I'm not one to boast (OK, well, it depends), but thanks to all the stonkingly hard work in the vineyard and the winery, it's gratifying to see the wines making their own merry way in the world! In fact, every single one of our wines has been presented with a major award since January:
We're honoured that Jeb Dunnuck, Rhone-ster Extraordinaire of Wine Advocate fame, bestowed upon us our first Parker Points: Abelard 2007 95pts (pretty unheard of for a new winery), Héloise 2007 94pts, Aliot 2010 93 pts and, more recently, for our Rose 91 pts.
Aliot 2010 was featured and praised as Wine Spectator's 'Editor's Pick' for 2014, offering up "gorgeous chamomile and tarragon flavours, with bright citrus fruit accents..." Their top wine journo James Molesworth came all the way to visit us on "the dark side of the moon" to try our "distinctly unique wines.... fresh, delineated and racy in feel";
All the wines we entered into the International Wine Challenge this year won awards, with our Viognier 2012 and Aliot 2010 even bringing home Gold (yippee!);
Gold medals for Abelard 2009 and Astralabe 2009 at Grenaches du Monde competition 2014;
More Gold for Heloise and Astralabe at the French IGP awards;
At the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2014, our Viognier 2012 and Rose' 2013 took Gold and Silver respectively...
Dashing Direct Press on our Rose'
At the super-selective Chateau Brown blind rose' tasting, attended by the creme de la creme of critics, ours came in n.1 ahead of all the big boys, in many cases by a long shot (was the cheapest too!). Here are some write-ups from Drinks Businessand Jancis Robinson;
... and, guess what: our cool rose' is HOT! We made the cut for the trendy who's-in-who's-out Sunday Times Style Magazine Barometer of Cool;
Swiss and Swedish press chimed in with praise, recognising the need to move beyond cheap-&-cheery and the merits of rose's that can stand on their own at the dinner table.
OK, this concludes the braggy-boots section; you can now, excitingly, in places as far and wide as Switzerland, Oman and New Mexico! Don't forget to let me know if you order some Chene Bleu - we'll be setting up a Loyalty Scheme in the near future and you never know what might come your way...
Behind The Scenes
Our multi-talented Neerja Naik, Chene Bleu's resident Queen of Spreadsheets at our London HQ, also finds the time to cement herself as an up-and-coming actress, having recently both acted in AND associate-produced Sold - a film by Academy Award-winning Director Jeffrey D. Brown, produced by Emma Thompson and starring Gillian Anderson and David Arquette. A serious and moving introspective into the tragedy of human trafficking, the film practices what it preaches, with the producers rolling out substantial charitable campaigns to raise awareness of the issue. You can follow along at #taughtnottrafficked and #soldthemovie. Be nice to me and you might get an invite to a private screening... : )
I was named 'Woman of the Month' by Feminin Pluriel, and will be a judge at the 'Women of the Future Achievement Awards' in London on October 28th. Also recovering slowly but steadily from my ski accident in February; six more months of rehab, and I'll be back on the road!
Celine Oudart, our Accounting Manager, and her husband welcomed their baby girl, Apolline.
My daughter Danielle has joined the team (hurrah!) and even her sister Gillian worked as an intern before heading off to dedicate herself to international social work.
WSET_Presentation_2014
Lastly....
...our newest recruit to the team: we've adopted our own little mascot, residing at our home in London! Meet our bonsai oak tree - now 'Bonsai Bleu' as we've covered it in copper sulphite like its papa.
Bonsai
A bientot, world! Until next time....
Nicole
xoxox