What Goes into Making Wine

What actually goes into making wine? There’s obviously the time when grapes are picked and squished into juice that makes the wine. But what about the rest of the year?

Here’s what a year in our wine making life was like.

Vineyard summer work with Pumpjack Piddlewick

Summer in the vineyard is the time for getting the vines ready to grow their grapes.  The scenery couldn’t be more gorgeous, well, unless it were Norway, but that is besides the point. As I work, I have the wonderful opportunity to look about me at a quilted hillside. LikeRead More →

Pumpjack Piddlewick Who We Are

If you’ve read any of our posts about working in a vineyard, you’ll be coming to realise that a vineyard’s work is never done.  Each season brings a different requirement. Obviously harvesting grapes in autumn, then there is pruning in winter. And spring in the vineyard? It’s all about de-budding. Read More →

It’s another tough year in the vineyards here in France. Spring is the time when, like all plants, they start to bud. Called bud burst in vineyard speak. But these sensitive buds are also very prone to frost. And some years are definitely worse than others. Spring? In the past,Read More →

The vendage is what France calls the grape harvest that makes wines. Join in at Pumpjack & Piddlewick

Last year I said, ‘never again’. And there is a saying ‘never say never again’. How very true. Fast forward to now and I find myself once again undertaking The Vendange. The vendange is a French term for the grape harvest here in France. Very specifically, the time in lateRead More →