"Hot from Pot" Harvesting

Not a dull momento here at Pot. We have taken the grapes skins off the Pinot Noir after fermentation, the 'Piropo' 2009 vat. It is now 'dry' wine and has a deep purple red hue. You want to dive into the velvety colour and disappear into its rich oblivions if you peer into the expanse of the vat.

We have taken the 'white' off its sediment. It is becoming paler and is sweetest twilight pinkling with a twinge of amber dawn. The bouquet is a divine secret. You will have to wait until February. It is to be called "Lyncurio" as suggested by that great mandarin of gemmology and pyrotechnics - Ben Gaskell of Gaskell Quartz. This is a mysterious stone which has magical properties , related to Jacinth or perhaps an amber, and much associated with Bacchus. I quote from Ovid's Metamorphosis

Vine-wreathed Bacchus
Received from conquered India, a gift
Of lynxes, beasts whose urine, so men say,
Changes to stones, congealing in air.

We have bottled "Piropo" 2007 and harvested the Alicante and some of the Sangiovese that was about to get a bit shrivelly. Very clean and promises well. Acidity and so on is good. The weather is still hot with lovely Autumn chill at night and the chestnuts from the mountain will be ready any day now. We have started lighting the fires.

We are hoping to bottle the rest of the 2007 early this week but due to bucreaucratic bungling in the miasma of the Grosseto agricultural institutions we have to wait another week for the tasting commission to pass the wine as D.O.C . Luckily the weather is holding out so we are going to do 12 hour sessions of bottling at the last minute in order to empty the vats for the rest of the harvest. Touch and go. It is infuriating but typical - the structures that should serve the producer serve only the structure at the expense of the product.

I have included in photo fun something we ate. I will expand this into our food section called "Yumyum" and will write up the formulas. More news later.

Thought for the day

"A shut mouth catches no flies."
Marlene Dietrich in Von Sternberg's
THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN