Celebrating good news in Rasteau

Rasteau’s winemakers would organise a party even if there were nothing to celebrate. They like a bit of communal refreshment. But so soon after the village’s promotion to Cru status, and on the eve of the 25th ever-popular Nuit du Vin, last Saturday’s gig in the main square was particularly cheery. Moreover, the vines are looking great this year, and there are plenty of grapes – so many, in fact, that I wonder what they are going to do to keep yields down to the legal limit. Hmm! Pick all you can and « lose » a bit on the way to the winery… Has anyone got a spare vat the authorities don’t know about?

Anyway, unless a disaster strikes in the next weeks, 2011 could be the third running triple-A vintage.

Sticky cheese!

Songs are written and films are made about such perfect nights: warm with a slight breeze; the sky deeply blue; the moon almost full. With their typical open-mindedness, Rasteau’s folk invited a team from a cheese collective in Laguiole in the Massif Central to provide the nosh. That village is better known for its knives, but also produces cheese from cows who spend most of the year belly-high in grass. They didn’t bring down the matured Cantal or Laguiole cheese you get down in the cities, but Aligot, a very young cheese that melts particularly well. So what do they do? They make a heap of mashed spud in a huge pot, add the aligot, stir it like mad and add heaps of cream. The photo to the left is what it looks like in the end. Healthy.

What a night!

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The Aubrac area is also famous for its steak. Imagine how a perfectly grilled hunk of steak and the Aligot tasted with a seemingly endless supply of Rasteau. Although, even when celebrating they still work. I sat across the table from Elodie Balme who tasted and sipped all night long.

I left at about midnight, but they were still going strong. Let’s hope the good news keeps flowing in. An evening like that is all that Provence is supposed to be about, and that’s what the world needs right now.

Here’s a gallery of photos. You may have to click on them to see the full image.