Vineyard joggings
Frankly too steep to jog
(aka the jog blog – thanks @thewinebird). Having taken up (very slow) jogging again in the summer of 2012, I thought it might be fun to share some microclimatic observations.
Chablis, July 2012.
I very quickly identified a new category of steep slope viticulture – frankly too steep to jog. The grand cru vineyards to the north-east of Chablis village qualify more than adequately. I suspect I’ll be finding quite a few vineyards may fall into this new category.
Heading south west out of the village was much gentler. Those premier cru and village level vineyards were still pretty challenging for this jogging returnee, but do-able. And it was easy to understand the stripy pattern of 1er cru – village – 1er cru – village vineyards in the sequence of valleys that run north-east to south-west. The early morning sun shines on the premier cru vineyards which face largely south-east, while the gentle north-west-facing slopes are in morning shade – these are village level wines.
Surveying my successful jog
This picture was taken from the top of the grand crus (@thewinebird and I were driven) looking south-west. Vaillons premier cru is on the right (facing south east, basking in the early morning sun), village level vineyards on the left (facing north west, missing out on the morning sun). I went up the road in the middle (uphill all the way out, return journey easier on the lungs, tougher on the knees!).
Comments
One Response to “Vineyard joggings”
August 23, 2012 at 2:39 pm
More of this, please! I bet there are tonnes of winos who love a good morning jog to blow way the wine-induced cobwebs.