Adventures of Our Own Wines

Our Dream began with wine. No, not a glass of wine, but actually about wine. The whole having a vineyard in France, making our own wines, type of dream. Pumpjack, our delicious Oenologist, has always worked in the wine industry, and then a few years back he went on to get his degree in wine making and vineyards (otherwise known as Oenology and Viticulture). After working at other wineries around the world to hone his craft, we decided to take the plunge and move to France to actually make our own wines. Here is our journey ….

Grapes - posh plants or down and dirty agriculture - Featured Blog Post at PumpjackPiddlewick

I don’t know about you, but I never really thought about wine grapes and their vines as part of agriculture. In fact it sounds almost like a dirty word, when associated with wine. To me grapes aren’t a crop, like wheat. They are too posh for that. They are moreRead More →

Grape harvest time in the vineyard with Pumpjack Piddlewick

September is a balancing act of preparation and patience in the wine world, as we wait for the starter gun to fire. The call came in at 6 o’clock in the evening. “We have to pick NOW!” I dropped everything. It’s all Go! Go! Go! when it comes to harvestRead More →

What is it like to be a harvest widow " PumpjackPiddlewick

There’s a term in the the wine industry, a ‘Harvest Widow’. I’m a Harvest Widow. In fact this is my 6th time being a widow. No, I haven’t butchered 6 husbands and hidden them under the vines. Though harvest time may give one ideas. Harvest season is the best ofRead More →

You watch the vines come to life in the spring and then slowly the leaves start to unfurl and tiny grapes begin to make themselves shown.  You harvest, you press and ultimately you make wine. Then you watch, wait, test, test again, keep testing, adjust, taste, adjust, put in aRead More →