August 22nd, La Cadière d'Azur (Provence).
No, global warming has'nt worsened yet to such an extent that Bandol's Mourvèdre is being harvested that early ! Today is the first 
The weather is optimal today, warm but not too much, and the pickers began to work at 7 am. There are 12 of them, plus 2 bucket-carriers and the tractor driver. Later, several members of the Bunan family, including children, will join for this first day.
Michel Ferrus, viticulture manager, oversees how the pickers work, looks for forgotten clusters behind them and checks in the gondola for undesirable grapes or leaves. He was originally an independent vigneron (bringing his grapes the the local coop) somewhere else before working at Domaine Gentile, an organic estate with high, qualitative farming standards in Corsica. Thereafter he chose to work on the continent for family reasons and was hired by Bunan. He says that the job here is exciting and that he likes the way the Bunans trust his work in the vineyard wine.
I first speak to Jennifer and Jerome [picture on the left]. Most pickers have already worked in a vineyard, but Michel says that anyone can call at the Domaine and will eventually be given a try. As everything is picked manually in the region, there is work for those ready to be on the spot early.
The pickers have to find and cut the clusters one by one, which is not always easy because the canopy is thick and because the Sauvignon clusters are dense and short, with the stem often difficult to reach with the shears. They sometimes work blind and the fingers are at risk...
The Domaine Bunan has the Qualenvi certification which gives a frame to protect the environment in the vineyard. The philosophy here is sustainable agriculture. The generally dry climate allows it, although the proximity of the sea can bring some humidity and oïdium in certain circumstances.
Source:http://www.wineterroirs.com/page/11/
business from France to the U.S.. Her academic interest was primarily culture, litterature and cinema and not wine, but what was to be her future career all came by itself: just by enjoying great moments in local bistrots like le Passavent (a bistrot/restaurant with a great wine list), drinking wine "à la ficelle", a new and magical way to serve wine for her (a bottle of your choice is brought to your table and you just pay for what you drink). They also used to go eat at Le Baratin, a restaurant with great food and a selection of natural wines (maybe one of the first in Paris then with such an exclusive wine list). She spent these years between Paris, New York and Harvard (where she studied the french cinema), and several grants helped her stay in Paris. She did not know at the time what natural wine was about, but the difference in the way these wines tasted began to raise her awareness and curiosity on the subject. [ Upper left picture: Jenny with Claude Courtois at a tasting of his wines plus book-signing, at Café de Flore ] 
of a few of them. The first time that I tasted his generous Sancerre whites was precisely in a wine bar and he was there in person. His grapes are organicly grown and his wines are vinified with a slow-vinification approach. His unfiltered Sauvignons have a beautiful turbid-gold color with an onctuous mouth feel. I told him at the time that I would drop one day in Sancerre for a visit
pushed or sprayed, and they riped quietly on the tree or on the ground and they reflect the vintage and the occasional accidents that mother nature brougt onto them, like scars, insect bites or drought-induced small size. If you're used to what the supermarket selects for you, the first bite may be a surprise, like some can very acidic (that's why you can keep them through the winter), but there's the taste, and at the end you feel that you ate something real and good for you.