Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I took the glass from Sean and lifted the mahogany liquid to my nose, inhaling a melody
of dark fruit with a clean mineral streak through the centre. Desire drew me forward and I
tilted the glass to my lips.
'Hang on,' said Sean. 'What did you get on the nose?'
Sean wanted analysis. I wanted to drink. 'Blackberry,' I said, eager to get on with my first
swig.
'What else?'
'Mineral.'
'OK, now you can taste.'
I took a deep draught and swirled it around, feeling the warming sensation of alcohol on
the back of my throat. The wine filled my mouth with plum and blackberry. The finish had
a hint of spice and that attractive saline minerality.
'Delicious.' Ilicked my lips. The wine filled me with joy.A picture ofa vineyard drenched
in sunlight formed in my mind. Sean drew me rudely back to the lounge of our semi-d.
'Did you get the spice?'
I nodded.
'It's probably the oak, the wine was barrel-aged.'
'How can they be in liquidation if they make wine this good?' I asked.
'I got the impression they have bigger problems than their finances. Maybe their subse-
quent vintages weren't this good.'
We found a Bergerac-based
notaire
who was described as a specialist in vineyards and li-
quidations. The combination sounded ominous but was exactly what we needed.
A
notaire
is an all-powerful state lawyer who does not litigate but rather deals with prop-
erty, commercial and inheritance law. He assured us that we would be protected from the
current owner's debts if we bought the property, rather than their business. It was excellent
news. Now we could seriously consider buying the property. Then he outlined the process
for buying a property in liquidation.
It was complicated. We would be buying the land and house from the owners, the equip-
ment and stock from the liquidator and negotiating the possibility of all of this through the
French government agency SAFER. SAFER and the liquidator would consider multiple of-
fers before making a decision on who to sell to. There would be multiple decision makers.
I still didn't fully understand the process but at least I knew we weren't putting ourselves at
risk to the previous owner's debts.
