Buying a vineyard

[McJules]

We have just bought a vineyard in South West France.....does anyone have any tips for us on running it?? We have never had any involvement in the industry before but feel sure that it can't be that difficult. What should we be doing with our vines at this time of year? Can anyone give us any tips on potential pitfalls??

 

[billyo]

Umm, no offence, but are you serious?

[Nick Trollope]

 Nah, he/she can't be, can they?

Pitfalls? The fact that the French wine industry is collapsing may be significant .....

[Sevenup]

[quote user="McJules"]

We have just bought a vineyard in South West France.....does anyone have any tips for us on running it?? We have never had any involvement in the industry before but feel sure that it can't be that difficult. What should we be doing with our vines at this time of year? Can anyone give us any tips on potential pitfalls??

[/quote]

I love the optimism.

 

[Blanche Neige]

We have just bought a vineyard in South West France.....does anyone have any tips for us on running it??

[^o)]Imagine a French (or any other nationality) person crossing La Manche, buying a farm in the U.K. and asking a similar question; I would suggest they went on a suitable course a.s.a.p.

[Teamedup]

A family of viticulteurs in our village, their metier for generations, sent the 2 kids in the family who wanted to continue the business away to college to learn all about this. Which seemed sensible to me.

Sounds like you need to at least employ someone who knows what they are doing until you learn what to do yourself. However, this will be costly, but I imagine cheaper than losing all your vines through ignorance.

 

[andyh4]

Suggest you read "The ripening Sun" by Patricia Atkinson.  She did what you are suggesting - it cost her her marriage and at some times nearly her sanity - but like you say can't be that difficult can it.

[Renaud]

I agree with Andy that reading 'The Ripening Sun' gives a good idea of the year round slog of winemaking. Also the triumph of succeeding. Wonderful book.

However I think that it was the move to France by the author's husband that cost them their marriage, the vinyard came after.

[Mckenzie]

Let out the vineyard for a year or two and look and learn

bob

[zeb]

It's bl**dy hard work!

You should be cutting back and clearing now, then tying, and then pruning back to keep the best bunches of grapes in June and spraying inbetween times as well as keeping it all weed free.

As someone else said, employ someone who knows what they are doing and work with them for a year or two.

Good luck!

PS Where are you?

[Quillan]

Assuming this is not a joke then get somebody to run it for you for a few years as mentioned. In the mean time enrole in one of the many excellent agrigultural colleges here in France. For our region the best one is located at Carcassonne and specialises in vine growning and wine making. Thats assuming of course that you speak French. Other than that apply for outline planning permission and plow the whole lot in to the ground and sell it off as building plots. Easy money and a lot less stress.

[daniel]

Why not having your own vineyard if not too large ? I don't think you

will earn much money with it but you can enjoy running it and keep our

country alive. Yes you should be cuting now, at least this is what my

neighboors do here (Hérault). It is hard work and you need to learn how

to do it. Ask the neighboors to see if they would teach you. If they

don't, watch them with binoculars while they are cuting, follow them to

the café and use british humor until they get very angry... or start

smiling.

If you really want to get seriously involved, you can follow proper

training at the local Lycée agricole or some other place. Ask the

chambre d'agriculture for more information. Hope this helps. Daniel.

[daniel]

Hey Quillan, if your idea about vineyards in France is really that they

should be sold as building plots, may I suggest that you keep moving

southward : sell your property and buy some other place. My suggestion

woul be somewhere in the Sahara or the antarctics.

[Quillan]

Not much call for building in either of those two places I'm afraid.

It's always been said on this forum when people have asked advice about buying in France and after giving them some tips and that doing their homework i.e. research is so important. Living the 'dream' and real life are very, very different and buying something you know nothing about increases your chance of failure greatly. Thats not to say that all those who do buy this way always fail but many, sadly, do.

Growning vines for wine is very hard work. Every time I go to Perpignan I drive through miles and miles vinyards. The worst time (after the winter pruning in the cold) is the summer when you will see people working a 6:00am tending the vines and this goes on day after day. For all I know they are probably up at the crack of dawn but 6:00am is early enough for me. It's then a kip during 10:00 till 4:00pm then back to it till dusk and thats the people who have been doing it for years and know what they are doing. So I think it would be safe to say that doing this with no knowledge at all is rather silly but if they like their house and don't want to move (which is probably the best solution) then either employing somebody and learning is one alternative and I have, tounge in cheek, offered another.

If there were anyone imnterested in the land for agriculture use then they had the oppertunity to buy when the property was put up for sale under SAFER but as they still have the vinyard obviously knowbody wanted it. The chances of selling on what they don't want as agricultural land seems to be out the window. Actually selling it as building plots is not such a stupid idea as contrary to comments in another thread I saw only today the rare opertunity of buying a building plot round here and the price was 85,000€ for just around 2,500M2 thats (for those without a calculator) 34€ a square mete, not bad money if you can get it. In this instance the plot was a large distance from any services, needed serious leveling and in it's present state you couldn't even put a shed on it so there you go.

Another thought, plow it all in, buy a computer and few hundred miles of plastic tubing, cover the whole lot with white plastic sheets and force grow salad stuff, big busines in Spain and they have the right conditions. The computer can water and control the chemicals and they can just sit back and enjoy the money. Get a couple of hundred Morocans over for 1€ per hour on the black to pick them and bob's your uncle, the money rolls in, luvely jubbly Rodders. By next year they will be millionaires.........perhaps. (sorry Daniel1 before you are tempted to tell me off I was only joking) [;)]

[Mpprh]

Hi

 

a few tips here : http://journals.aol.co.uk/arthurjcook/DomainedePalejay

 

Peter

 

[McJules]

Thanks Mpprh, excellent link, & thanks very much to everyone else for all your tips & support.

We've had a few probs getting advice in English (as our French is still so limited) & having trouble finding an English speaking consultant. Talking of which, any tips you have on the quickest way to learn French would be much appreciated

[Blanche Neige]

Language:

According to Classic FM radio the Independent are today offering a free "Learn to Speak French" CD. The book to go with it will be with tomorrow's copy of the paper. Seriously, an intensive language course or better still total immersion i.e. living for a while, with a French family who speak no English,  would be the ideal solution.

Re. Vineyards:

We have good French friends who own vineyards and they say there is always far more work to do during the Winter months. Today we received a New Years card from them and a photo from Sud-Ouest newspaper showing a lonely worker, dressed in thick trousers, heavy anorak with hood up, cutting back the vines in a very frosted / snowy(?) field , the comment from our friends was " it is not always mild in this region". (17)

Bon Courage!

[Patf]

I've just been reading the current Rustica gardening magazine and

included in jobs for this time of year is cutting back vines. Quite

complicated and they say to allow half to one hour per bush! Should be

done before the end of March. Pat.

[daniel]

I never learned English at school. Just went to London for two years

and learned from scratch. I'm still bad but who cares ? I' can't stand

lessons anyway ...

Find a job, watch TV, play football or bridge, read newspapers, go to

the café (first pernod helps, the following ones don't). Maybe buy a

book about gramar. Don't be inhibited and ask the french people to

correct your mistakes. It is discouraging and exhausting at first but

it does work. Well ... at least you can see by yourself how it worked

for me :-)

[mondids]

Dear McJules,

We are planning to move out to France in September of this year. It is our long term goal to buy our own vineyard and eventually vinify our own wines.

So I would be very interested as you are a year on, how your  first harvest was  and your  thoughts and feelings about the experience

 

[Lori]

It is kind of hard to understand why anyone would buy a vinyard when they know nothing about running one.  If this is for real, then I guess you have a good bit of studying to do.

Our neighbors, who have had vines for 35 years are digging them all up this year.  They told me that over the last 3 years, the profit on the grapes has dropped 60%.  They just don't feel it is worth it anymore.  Hopefully, you will have a better outcome.

As to language.  I found a private French teacher on  www.language-schools-teacher.com   They list language teachers all over the world.  I found a very well trained French teacher six miles from my house.  She is fantastic.  I like private lessons, as the teacher can focus on your level and not have to deal with various students at varying levels. 

 

[Chauffour]

[quote user="Patf"]I've just been reading the current Rustica gardening magazine and included in jobs for this time of year is cutting back vines. Quite complicated and they say to allow half to one hour per bush! Should be done before the end of March. Pat.
[/quote]

 

half to one hour per bush? that's complete boloni! [+o(] my dad has a vineyard in italy, it must be at least 500 vines... so it would take him 500 hours to prune? that's 10 working weeks at 50 hours per week???

i think if a complete novice want to buy a vineyard, he should do in in south africa. at least here it comes with all the expert (and cheap) workers and all you have to do is to seat in your veranda and sip your 2007 savignon blanc (almost ready!)

wine making here, as opposite to france, is a growing business., i wish i had learned from papa' and now i could have my own bottle of 'barbera del capo'!