There are many notable women who make wine in the Gers producing excellent Madiran and Cote de Gascogne appellations. We visited the lovely DOMAINE du MOULIÉ for a guided tasting hosted by Michele, and got an insiders look at post production barrel cleaning from Lucie who instructed us to « listen to the wine » inside the barrels by placing our heads next to the ceramic vats to hear the soft gurgle, a little like placing a seashell next to your ear to hear the sea. All of thi

There are still a few things that I will set my alarm for a 6:30 wake up call on a cold, wet winter morning to report in by 9, and one of them is a community picking party of the last grapes on the vine for ice wine. This was the most fun I’ve had in a while; I think sloshing around in the rain and the mud made it even better, and all of it was punctuated with passionate singing for each stage of the process from the men’s wine choir in prayer-like tones to seemingly to bless