Fall in the Minervois valley

It is currently over 20C in the Minervois but fall has arrived with all it's colours. The days are lovely and warm but the night's are cool.
Tomorrow is Halloween which over the last decade has seen children taking up the North American model of collecting candy door to door while dressed in costumes. I've looked high and low but can't find a Donald Trump mask so treats may be limited this year.

A Story About Stones.

We purchased 4 pieces of land around the village of La Liviniere last year. All have magnificent views over the Minervois valley and collapsed structures and crumbling ancient walls on them.
La Liviniere is known for it's dry stone walls. Whether used to build small shelters from the sun or to divide up parcels of land they are impressive. 

I had a visit from someone asking if I knew where he could get a few stones suitable for raising the height of a short section of his garden wall.
I showed him the stones lying around on one property and said he was welcome to a few.
As he was gathering the few stones  a couple of days later the Gendarmes arrived and he was asked what he thought he was doing. 

Explaining that he knew the owner of the land the Gendarmes were having none of it and told him to put them back. Why? He was told the land had a Roman road on it and was a protected world heritage site. Quite the surprise! The stones are resting there in their original location.
Is this true? Is there a 2000 year old section of Roman road on this land. Sounds like an interesting research project. 
If you would like to buy a plot of land with history attached to it contact me. Along with the views there are lovely trees, an ancient mill stream and several kinds of wild orchids on the land and all a short stroll from the center of the village. How many people do you know that own a bit of the Roman empire?

The harvest is coming to a close. This is the last of the big mechanical harvesters I've seen. There is still some hand picking going on in the higher elevations.
The days are shorter and the mornings are cooler but it's still lovely to have lunch on a sunny terrace.
Years with a five in them are thought to bring in a good crop and this certainly appears to be the case this year. Sweet grapes full of flavor should make fine wine.

The Dolmen des Fades is an interesting but little known ancient burial site dating from 5000 years ago. Signage is virtually non existent so it can be difficult to find.
Set on top of a wooded hilltop a few kilometers outside of Olonzac it is a peaceful spot with an aura about it.
Occasionally an art installation appears on same the hill just below the dolman. This recent one consists of wrapping the trees in brilliant colored cloth and hanging fabric between them. Earlier this year I arrived there to find stones, not the dolman itself, wrapped in tin foil. I found that a little odd but it did make me wonder why. Perhaps that was the only purpose.

I was asked to tell the story about the best dog in Olonzac. Arlo is her name and I found her abandoned in the hills to the north of Olonzac several years ago.
A mad Russian, Oleg, told me of a hidden waterfall and pool to swim in hidden in a gorge. My daughter and son and I set off to find it. This entailed driving down vineyard tracks and a hike of a few kilometers to this beautiful spot.
After spending an afternoon there with a picnic and swimming we were leaving as we lost the light. My son spotted movement in tall grass by the pool and alerted us that he thought a snake was approaching. It was not a snake but a tiny puppy that fit one hand. After waiting and calling out for half an hour Arlo left with us leading the way to the car.
The next day she was at the Vet's who said she's a 6 or 7 week old border collie and likely abandoned as the runt of the litter. She was far too young to be separated from her mother.
Arlo is very well known in Olonzac as the friendly, stick chasing dog with boundless energy.

Saturday night and Sunday afternoon was the wine and food tasting event in Homps, "Tastes of the Minervois", which is 2 kilometers from Olonzac on the banks of the Canal de Midi. I tried steak, fish, fois gras and chicken dishes from the stall of a 3 star Michelin chef. Extremely good!
The wines were whites, roses and reds and ranged from sweet to very strong reds. It was a real tasting with just a thimbleful given.
Lots of people in attendance and with a play area for the children, bands playing, great food and wine I think everyone enjoyed it.

Looking for the harvest

I went in search of the grape harvest this week. The whites are coming in but in the Minervois valley the reds predominate. While the harvest has started and  I found both machine and hand picking underway the weather has been cooler the past few days which seems to be slowing it down.
With a bit of cloud and temperatures in the mid twenties currently, along with cooler nights, next week should bring on the frenzy of picking. The juice will run in the streets.
Tonight is an an event with 50 local producers giving tastings of their wines along the Canal de Midi.
I'll look for some wines that I've not tried before. The variety should be overwhelming.