Disaster Strikes!

Never in a month of Sundays, did I expect to be sitting down for my evening meal with our close friends Catherine et Jean-Yves, to then hear a knock at the front door of our farmhouse, upon which answering, our neighbour, somewhat bemusedly stating that “one of our oak trees was on fire!!!”

The day began with a quick trip to Josselin to look scope out potential properties/shops for our future #cave wineshop aka tasting rooms aka bar. This amazing little town has a fabulous chateau, lots of great restaurants and is a wonderful tourist market town. We talked to shop owners to learn more about the costs and operating seasons and generally left feeling happy and excited with this prospect. Of course enjoying a #petitdej in one of the amazing cafes certainly helped too!

Following this, we started to think about other additions to our estate, including the orchards and options such as this famous mason du cidre. We will have to embark on another fact finding adventure later this year.

So, all in all, it had been a pretty perfect day, and we were settling in for a homemade soup featuring fresh produce from the potager, when the neighbour knocked! As I looked down the vineyard, I could not quite believe my eyes. One whole oak tree was on fire. It was almost biblical! Nothing else, just this tree. I quickly informed Jayne and Catherine to get the irrigation system online (aka the super long hosepipe connected to mains water not the well water), and I ran #baywatch-esque down the field towards the burning oak (hmmm. come to think of it, that would be a great name for one of our whiskies! #theburningoak). Jayne turned on the faucet and much to my relief the tree was extinguished within 30 minutes. There was some scorching of the ground (due to falling embers), but fortunately not a single vine was harmed. The rest of the evening has been spent revisiting the scene and respraying in 30 minute intervals. Just an unbelievable evening. Fortunately, the company for the evening was inspired and we learned about everything from French tax law to Pacific Pastis adverts from the 1980's! We also managed to confirm a trip to a champagne house in June for some training and inspiration. Overall a win win win!

Let’s hope tomorrow brings a good dose of rain.