Andrew McInnes (pictured) of Ch La Cardonne in the Médoc sent me the following message on reading in Bordeaux 2011 – our plans that I was not going to Bordeaux to taste the primeurs this year:
'To ensure that you don't feel left out, I thought you might be interested in spending 30 virtual seconds at Château La Cardonne. When not travelling I spend lots of time reflecting amongst the vines, and this year decided to take a photo every hour. (To be honest at a recent tasting in Tokyo I met a guy who hacks Canon cameras, and he created an intervalometer application that allows me to stick a camera against the kitchen window and take a shot every hour). The result is that, I think for the first time in history, we are finally able to watch a grape grow! Quel enchantement! as one may say in French.'
When I complained that his video suffered from stop-start phenomenon, he reminded me to click on the HD button and then wrote, 'Hope the video was less jittery second time around. My cleaner who kept bumping into the camera sadly is no longer with us, so this year, we should see a marked improvement in stability.'