Summer at Domaine Mirabeau

As travel has slowly begun to pick up again, with the COVID-19 pandemic being gradually brought under control, we have been so thrilled to safely welcome our first rental guests to Domaine Mirabeau. We have had holidaymakers staying in both Le Mas and La Bastide, enjoying a well-earned, secluded break with family and friends.

Say Hi to Digby & Frankie

In June we had two new arrivals to the farm; Frankie and Digby, our two new pigs. Frankie is the small black one, a cross between a Chinese and a New Zealand pig, and Digby is the spotted one, a New Zealand KuneKune. They came from some friends in Cotignac, and have immediately made themselves at home with the alpacas, Vince and Pablo.

The alpacas were pretty wary at first, and the pigs a bit pushy and noisy, but they’re all getting along really well now. The pigs have got a lovely muddy pool to roll around in, and are enjoying eating any food waste on the domaine. Pigs play an important role in managing ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity. By rooting around and disturbing the soil, they create areas for new plant colonisation. 

Mirabeau Kitchen Garden

The kitchen garden is doing brilliantly, and we’ve now got tomatoes, aubergine, green beans, shallots, artichoke and fennel. And talking about about the Mirabeau Kitchen, the pizza oven is up and running, and we had a brilliant day with famous baker Richard Bertinet baking bread and pizzas.

Life in the Vines

July marks a really important period for the grapes, whereby the berries get bigger until the clusters close and then the grapes start turning purple, known as ‘veraison’ (that’s when they really start to look like grapes). Weather-wise it’s been a difficult year for the grapes with an unusually high amount of rain in Spring and now extremely hot Summer months. So far, only a few grapes have started changing colour.

The vineyard team has been extending the trellises that the vines climb up, to make sure the canopy benefits from maximum exposure to sunlight, for good photosynthesis. We’re expecting August to be a quieter month in the vineyard, but towards the end of August, our viticulturalist Clèment will begin doing crucial maturity samples to determine the perfect harvest day

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