More signs of spring

With all the rain and cold weather it's hard to tell that spring is really here. However, two other important signs have surfaced to confirm the change of season...

Primeurs kick off next Monday but there are already tons of journalists in town tasting the 2006 vintage. They will note the wines that will go on sale (Chateau to wine merchant to importer/distributer to you) sometime in May or June. That same wine won't even be delivered for another two years but the wine Futures game makes money for everyone, so everyone's happy. Good things have been said about the 2006 vintage - a surprise considering all the rain we had and, as 2006 will forever be known as the one that came after the most amazing and most expensive Bordeaux of all time, the chateaux are letting out sighs of relief.

Read Thomas on Jame Suckling's blog for Wine Spectator: “If we had this year 10 years ago it would have been a very average year, but it is a different situation now,” said Palmer’s technical director, Thomas Duroux. He is one of the hottest new winemakers in the region and his 2006 is excellent, not at the level of his amazing 2005, but outstanding. “People have the resources to make excellent wines now in such years. We got rid of 10 percent of the grapes when we were picking. Plus we did green harvests and leaf thinning during the summer. We made a severe selection of wines as well. We didn’t do that in the1980s, or even in the 1990s.”

My husband? A "hot" winemaker? Ooh la la!

The second traditional sign of spring: Les greves. Strikes are announced for the national telephone company, the national employment agency, and the post office. It's a good thing the sun hasn't come out much lately or the public transportation agency would go on strike and then we'd all be in the merde.