Not easy to post using only the phone, without landline internet connection and reliable computer, that's why I delayed this story. I've been in this remote hideout since 23rd of april, i was abroad when the lockdown started in France a week earlier, it was eerie to arrive there in the middle of this pandemic situation with Paris mostly empty. B. Drove to Burgundy to take care of her parents and when i landed from Budapest i rushed to Paris, packed bags on the motorcycle and rode straight to the Loire house, not being sure i'd make it through the road checks, but I made it... This is a strange period to go through but certainly less difficult in the country side especially at this season when everything brightens up, having to go through this, say, in november would have been even more depressing.
Picture above : A Pineau d'Aunis, Bois Freslon 2017 by Philippe Chidaine. This was my first wine during the lockdown in days when we were still wondering what tomorrow would be (not that we're really in the clear today but the horizon may be less frightening)...
There's another regular visit story on its way, it has been delayed but will be published soon at last...
This was the last place spent I spent time in, before Budapest closed almost everything from theaters to restaurants and bars, the city went actually into lockdown mode even before France although the number of cases and the death toll were way lower. I remember that evening I tried to go to Szimpla but it was already closed, so I went to this other, lesser known cool place that doubles as live music concert hall. When I think to all these places worldwide that have been closed, restaurants and bars particularly, it's a terrible thing because lots of people are loosing their jobs and the owners may not be able to keep their business afloat with the rents and fixed costs, especially if the authorities don't ease the restrictions for this sector very soon.
We had seen these images of Wuhan through a drone, empty streets and spotless idle airport, few people would have imagined at the time we'd see that in Europe or America. I saw in a few days a city change under my eyes, it soon emptied and went eerily quiet although no compulsory stay-at-home order had been issued at the beginning. Many offices and businesses closed, the population began to wear masks and avoid public transport, wether buses, trams or subway, it was strange to see them almost empty at what was usually rush hours. Some streets that were usually thick with tourists and strollers were virtually empty as tourists and other expats had shortened their stay. I stayed for my part and enjoyed walking around especially in the evening in these beautiful dark streets.
This pandemic was often brought by travellers and I might have felt rejection from locals as a French at the time knowing that France was going through a spiking contagion, but I didn't experience any incident in this regard. Here the first major cluster of the disease which started in Wuhan, China was a group of Iranian students enlisted at the Semmelweis University who had just come back from a vacation in their home country. Semmelweis University happens to be also one of the top research center on the disease.
I had usually beer there which is pretty good and cheap there, but I occasionally picked randomly a bottle of cheap wine in the local grocery to test the waters and see what people can drink on a daily basis. We should do that more often when we travel, even with the recurring risk of not finishing the bottle, it helps gather intelligence on industrial wines. This 10,5 % alcohol Juhfark from the Nagy-Somlo is indeed cheap at about 3 € (not the cheapest, though, here) it is made by the mass bottler Canter Borház and while being squartely formated it was, should i say it, enjoyable and without headache.
It's while I was there that the new label Vin Méthode Nature which gives a certification to natural wines came out in France and people were discussing about it on the Web. In my view there's no real need fo this type of label in the perspective of small-size wine farm because these growers and winemakers are trusted and known by their buyers and consumers. It may be useful for big players but I tend to suspect the way mass bottlers can get around the rules and the ethics. We see what happened with the W.H.O. regarding the pandemic, I'm afraid in the long term a certification bureaucracy can help corrupt entities cover their tracks and even carry water for them, muddying the waters on the fine line between real wine and sophisticated enology. But we'll see, I may be wrong, anyway it is important to keep knowing the winemakers and visit them, that's certainly the old, efficient way to know what you're drinking.
I expected the last flight out of Budapest to be crowded but I guess most people had run to their respective countries as soon as the news began saying that a lockdown was looming, and we were 9 or 10 passengers in this Boeing 737 bound to Paris. Very strange experience.
The swift run home through Paris was samely an unusual experience (not that I use much public transport in Paris to compare), the country was 6 days into its full lockdown and the streets and public transport were really ghostly empty. I rushed home, grabbed another bag and took the road with the motorbike, keeping my boarding pass at easy reach to explain the possible road checks by law enforcement why I wasn't (yet) sheltered in place.
Compared to so many people who remained in the big cities and in small appartments those of us who could spend these trying times in the quietness of the countryside were indeed lucky. Like in many countries going through the same lockdowns, arriving city dwellers could be viewed by locals with suspicion but I didn't notice bias in that regard. I read about villages here and there, in Spain and Italy for example where locals blocked access roads. The title of this article might have you think that such a thing happened in France but it's mostly fake news, the media often loves sentational adversarial situations. There were certainly just a few places like the Ile de Ré where some local officials and citizens complained of too many Parisians arriving in their second home at once, which at some point is understandable in villages were permanent residents feel overwhelmed overnight by people coming from supposedly infected areas, but on the whole I think it went along smoothly.
The vegetation was no yet fully out when I arrived here on late march (the previous picture was shot a couple weeks later) and the nights were pretty cold, this picture shows more the state of the foliage in late march, barely coming out. Under the lockdown rules you could go out shopping for essential items with a signed self-certification indicating the date and motive of your move (once a week, maybe twice a week, not more). The good old Ami 8 Citroën was conveniently there for the cold days, plus my new licence plate doesn't have (unlike the motorbike) the seal of infamy (75) that might point me to the locals as an intruder from Paris bringing mayhem on their quiet region. I even dared to change the headlights myself as I couldn't visit the guy I counted on for this job. I had bought the new lights in january (because the old ones had some rust on the reflector inside) to a company in Chateauroux, Renov 2CV, that has virtually all the new parts for these vintage Citroën beauties.
I had the chance to have a few good bottles there and although I was intend on keeping as many of them to share with someone, these were exceptionnal times, maybe doom was near, so let's open this one... Reading the news on the scarce Internet signal on the phone (no fix line) in this remote blank spot (sometimes with hours in a row without signal) you think about the way the world is changing and how it will recover (or not) the old ways. Some people idealize a wish for a different world but I think most wish some sort of normalcy close to what we had before and don't want to revolutionize everything. Travel, meeting friends and relatives, going to bars, restaurants and concerts are certainly high on the wish list as well as going back to work and make money to support themselves and their family. Maybe, and I think that's a feasible change, they'll scale down their expectations and focus more on having good time with friends and family than on buying a nicer car or getting a fancier house. I think also many people from the cities will make the step to move in quieter communities. Samely, practicing home school may have many parents realize that it might be a good option versus a school system that crushes the individuality of their children and exposes them to bullying, thus encouraging herd mentality. Many parents and children have fared good without school, beginning with families sailing around the world on their boat. University students could as well discover that distance learning is a very cheap option, it works if you're motivated and just for a fraction of the cost. Universities have possibly reached the end of their model, with along the years less high learning, more indoctrination, and relying more on international students to make money, losing along the way the ethics of the founding fathers. You have so many good jobs that can make without a degree, just look at the wines we all love...
The skies were so pure and clean during the first part of the lockdown, this fire almost broke the magic. There was really no planes passing above, which is something you realize retrospectively never arrived before : there was always here and there a haze or trail steam from passing airliners that prevented the sky from remaining deep blue. Not this time. You could see the difference and hear the silence. The day would unfold with basic tasks and work outside, what a chance that the weather was fair and sunny, it could have been as well raining for weeks at this time of the year (which on the other hand would have been good to wash the streets in contaminated areas).
I had a few apéritifs with B. and other friends through Whatsapp like many of you did as well I guess (some use Zoom), but I could only take part when there was signal in my remote area, which wasn't often the case at the precise hour especially during the first weeks. I guess everyone including the kids being connected on their phone all day to watch movies or listen to music, the tap was dry for our end of the road...
Under the lockdown rules you are allowed to get out for exercise on foot or bicycle at no more than 1 kilometer from home. That was a good thing that a large forest stands nearby. I'd bring back a leftover log occasionally to complement my dwindling heatingwood reserves. I know some regions got mushrooms in may but here nothing, too dry I guess. That would have been terrific, almost self sufficient for the food...
One day the butcher aisle of the supermarket i drove to had this half pig head which I thought was a great dish to cook at this time of the year. I just put it in water with a bit of salt, leaving it for long hours on the wood cookstove in this cast iron pot, moving it on the side when it was boiling to violently. Best is put it to cool outside the window in the evening, taking out the surfacing fat the following morning and have it cook again a few hours. Just delicious and so cheap, the whole thing cost me 3,7 € and made 3 or 4 meals. Much better hot than cold (I tried the ear cold).
That's what people in the big cities miss, being able to see flowers (left) turn into tiny fruits (right) growing every day, and some will forfeit higher payrolls for a life closer to nature, especially if they raise a family. Here it is a quince tree, pretty generous every year. Was given to me by B.' parents in Burgundy as an offshoot from their own tree and it prospered in its new region.
I've read that the French have been multiplying apéritifs or as we say shortly, apéros during these trying times spent locked at home. I noticed that near the apéritifs & spirits aisle, my familiar salted biscuits and peanuts were often sold out. Damn, what to eat with the booze... Were people stocking up on these essential items ? Probably yes. Here enjoying a Sauvignon Blanc, Le Petiot 2014 by Vincent Ricard in Thésée.
I had casually spared a few tomato seeds on a paper towel last summer after taking them from delicious artisanal tomatoes which I had bought to a private gardener on a fleamarket. This long stay at the appropriate season was a good opportunity to try my luck at starting my own shoots with them. It worked... I kept them inside at the beginning because rthe temperature was quite cold, putting them outside when the temp raised around above 20 C (68 F). They're now planted.
Clearing away tiles from under the nut tree I found a cache of nuts, I knew a rival rodent took its share on the prized shell fruits and while understanding its needs I resorted to successfully response the hard way. Another one will probably certainly take its place in a moment, I'm confident...
I'm pretty sure that for many people having this shelter-in-place in the countryside, the days are punctuated by reading the news and analysis online, outdoor work, cooking and aperitifs, and another thing is that the latter may keep going on long after this pandemic fades....
Here was a very beautiful Beaujolais Leynes Haut de Balmont 2013 by Julien Guillot, you could guess blind that it was 100 % natural and unfiltered, sulfites free. A pleasure.
With the pumpkins its pretty easy, I put the seeds in the last days of april after having seen the weather forcast, there was no frost on its way. The region can have severe frost in the last days of april and until around 10 may (the vignerons know that the hard way). The seeds are a centimeter deep in soft, humid earth covered with a transparent plastic (for a week or two until the temperature is clearly on the rise) to have a greenhouse effect. Now and then, I'd push back into the earth the surfacing seeds and soon they'll pop up. Sometimes they pop up the wrong way, roots up, and I'd put them back upside down. I put mulch (last autumn's dead leaves from the oak tree) on the ground around them to keep the soil humid and alive and from then on it should run by itself. Nobody's perfect, I have to admit that I've put some anti-slug granules otherwise they'd loot my shoots. There'll be nothing else, pumpkins are pretty healthy every year.
My cellar in the Loire is not bottom less and I'd open sometimes odd bottles I don't remember where I got them from, like this Rioja Marqués del Romeral Gran Reserva 1998. It was pretty good even though the bottle quality looked light and cheap. Had endured the years pretty well, was lying here with other bottles for 10 years maybe.
That's something else which will make the life different for many people I'm sure, after this pandemic fades : Many have made the step to make and bake their own bread, and some may never buy bread again. The original motive was I guess the fact somebody you don't know has touched the bread in the bakery and you want to stay safe, but once they see how easy it is, they'll keep doing it. For my part I had a bread machine in the Loire but it broke down for the 2nd bread (it wouldn't mix the wheat and water) and I did without the machine which is just fine.
I wanted to use buckwheat flour and worked from this recipe, it seemed simple and the results were indeed very satisfying. I used buckwheat and semi-complete flour. I used dessicated yeast at first but discovered that live baker yeast (which is sold in some supermarkets, even the non-organic in blue on the pic makes a good job) is even better, making a tastier bread, and that doesn't crumbles when you cut it. I'd have first the baker starter develop quietly in a bowl (between 30 minutes and one hour) mixed with a glass of tepid/warm water and a bit of flour. After having the bread raise for two hours in a warm place (on the far side of the wood cookstove for example) I would bake it in the electric oven at 180 C (356 F) for 40 minutes.
About 3 years ago (during this visit) laurent Saillard gave me a baby vine of Chardonnay which I planted right away. Here it is. Don't look too close for the pruning, I'm not sure I did it the right way but it seems happy and healthy.
During the same visit 3 years ago, I had taken home a recently-uprooted old vine of Sauvignon. This Clos Roche Blanche vineyards being history, i wanted to keep a chunk and replanted it. It survived a few years but dried up last year during this very long drought. I wasn't enough around to hose it and found it one day in summer after a long absence with dry, dead leaves. I cut it short hoping to find green wood but it was really gone. Too bad. Here the neighbor's dog seems to like play with the bark.
It was a real pleasure to have this cuvée by Marcel Richaud, a Cairanne L'Ebrescade 2015, nice extraction, length and freshness on top of that. I particularly liked the bottom of the bottle, the unfiltered last drops seemed to concentrate the soul of this wine.
One day at the occasion of my rare trips to the civilization looking for groceries, I passed this young vineyard on my favorite side road, it was so nice and tender when I first spotted it (top picture). Then later i remarked that the parcel had alsas been sprayed with herbicide... Never forget to visit vineyards in late april or in may, you'll see the real status of a vineyard, either natural or chemical soaked. In other seasons you will not see it as obviously as in may. See here for variations on the infamous brown stripes.
Every few days I'd opt for vodka for a change, one of the reasons being I had to preserve more or less the bottle cellar. This one, I already talked about, is from Perm, Ural and made by Permalko (brought this back from the East). As said, we should hear soon about rising sales of spirits during the lockdown, lingering even after the return to a form of normalcy, and we'll probably be lectured by the health authorities and government about that...
This was the right opportunity to do things you always delay for later, and end up never doing. I've done some fixing here and there, like remaking a shutter that was falling into pieces on this outbuilding. I was lucky to have the needed spare parts, leftover wooden slats with nuts & bolts of the right size, even a rest of wood stain to protect the wood for the finish. The former shutter was certainly more than 100 years old, I don't guarantee mine will last as much. Very proud though, I should make a living from this skill...
I'm happy that this place and lot is free of herbicide and a haven for all sort of life and insects (except slugs in the proximity of my pumpkin shoots, I admit), that's certainly why this young toad was happily roaming around at dark. It was quite dry when I shot this picture and I sprayed the ground with water.
If you have a garden and you are lazy, sorrel is perfect for your self sufficiency : you don't have to do anything, year after year it grows by itself, you cut a bunch of leaves and it will have grown back a week later. Sorrel is very acidic and is good food, it must be cook shortly in a pan, my favorite way being to put it atop an ommelette. Check for the slugs though, they want their share.
Here the simple dish paired well with the Coteaux du Giennois 2009, Terre de Fumée by Henri Bourgeois, another bottle I dug from the cellar.
This may not be the best season to trim the hedge and I had to pause the work indefinetely a couple of times, at least at the given spots near the nests. These cuties will be on their own soon and will not need the nest anymore (it's crazy how the birds prefer new real estate).
The other way to slow down the pillaging of the cellar was to buy wine. The supermarket offer is not exciting and while not really allowed a short visit to the right place got me 5 liters a a white blend straight from the tank. This Sauvignon-Chardonnay was unfiltered and a refreshing alternative for the apéritifs, and at an unbeatable price.
With the first couple weeks being cold I could use the wood cookstove for cooking, the old way, what a marvel, the one who invented the cookstove is a genius. These things last forever virtually without fixing. You can choose a slower cooking on the side, which is the ideal way to retain the qualities & taste of the food.
When not using the chainsaw for the bigger logs I'd do the smaller wood by hand. You don't really need a gym in the countryside, another plus for the candidates mulling for a move out of the big city.
I reiterated the purchase of bulk wine, bringing my 5-liter plastic jar for this time a load of Côt, samely unfiltered from the tank. Needed a bit oxygenation but the tannins were fine, no astringency (made from destemmed grapes if i remember) and easy to drink at the right room temperature.
I thought I had opened the last bottle of this cuvée a while ago but there was still another one and I couldn't resist. This Autrement, Vin de France natural wine 2011 made by Jacques Broustet of Chateau Lamery near Bordeaux was a delight, whole, savoury and fresh.
This was yet another cuvée I thought I had exhausted and ended up finding a last bottle. What a delight again with this one, wild and smooth at the same time... Kudos to Gilles Azzoni for this wine, I hope his son is keeping up ! As you can see the meal was spartan otherwise, B. is doing a better job than me in this regard, no question.
Thanks for the update - very interesting! I hope you and yours continue to do well.
Posted by: TBD | May 08, 2020 at 10:26 AM
Thanks TBD !
Posted by: Bertrand Celce | May 09, 2020 at 05:25 PM
a wise and gentle reflection
Posted by: vaughn tan | May 10, 2020 at 09:49 AM
Hi Bert, I'm not sure if you remember me, my name is Guy, from Australia, and we had dinner one night in Paris where I told you about a television program about dining in Paris i was hoping to produce for Australian television. Still hoping.
I just read this story and it was wonderful. We holiday every year in Saint Chinian and obviously can't be there this year. We miss it very much so hopefully next year. We miss the wines too. Very hard to find any from the Languedoc in Australia.
It seems like you guys have a harder lockdown than us here in Australia. We're about to start opening up slowly but no overseas travel.
Stay well, keep the stories coming, they take us back to France.
Guy
Posted by: Guy Pack | May 11, 2020 at 05:28 AM
A great blog on homemade sourdough is The Perfect Loaf. Thanks for your blog, nice to travel and drink with you...
Just drank a bottle of
2011 Domaine Richaud Les Estrambords, that we carried back from a visit years ago. Went well with roast duck!
Best regards,
William
Posted by: William Schmitt | May 12, 2020 at 03:51 PM
thanks for this Bert, made my day !
Posted by: Brian Allen Simon | May 14, 2020 at 08:43 PM