Vendanges have finished in Burgundy, they were done quite quickly this year, due to the bad frosts in April.
Gerard Quivy started the picking on 24 September and I assisted Christine Quivy in getting the casse-croute ready for the vendangeurs. As picking starts early (when the sun rises), pickers are ready for a break by mid-morning.
Casse-croute means to break the bread in French. It was a chilly morning when I set off for Domaine Quivy. What I like about the period of vendanges is that there is seldom a need for an alarm clock, the tractors do that job for you.
As I passed our Halle Chambertin in the heart of the village, it was amusing to see the moon was still in the sky!
It was all action when I got to Christine’s kitchen. She had a wide range of goodies, Camembert cheese, paté, saucisson and saucisson sec. As I got to work on chopping everything into manageable pieces and into containers, she rushed off to the boulangerie for fresh bread. She returned with a large paper bag of crispy baguettes, which we cut into chunks. We then loaded everything into her car and went off to find Gerard and the vendangeurs.
It had turned into a beautiful sunny morning, still chilly but improved by the sun. Johan improvised a table from overturned baskets and Christine laid out a white tablecloth, for our fine casse-croute. Unfortunately, we had forgotten the coffee, but there were lots of soft drinks, water and even a couple of bottles of wine. Apparently, wine is a tradition for casse-croute that dates back to the old days, though not all domaines provide this now.
Everyone was happy to have a short break.
I should have taken a photo of the victuals before everyone started, but I was busy chatting to various people, so here is a photo of the casse-croute, after most of it was eaten!
Then it was back to work for everyone.
