Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'Kerry came to see me today and I thought to myself: hmm - how much can he know
about welding and farm machinery? But you know what? He knows so much. He told me
to reinforce a section that I hadn't considered and he was correct. It was the point of the
greatest pressure and the part that needed the most reinforcement on the whole plough.'
'You know Ad, at first I didn't know whether to trust him but he's the real McCoy.
Someone who can make a walnut cake this good and give advice on making a farm plough
is pretty unique.'
'He has got so much going on in his head it's hard to keep up. Sometimes I have to switch
off to cope.'
That afternoon Kerry explained his plans for a wine tourism website to me. 'I think there
is good potential in the wine tourism business. It could be something to complement your
wine business. I know it's hard to make ends meet on a small farm like this.'
He had read my mind.
'I was vaguely considering offering wine classes. Most of the people who visit us have
asked for an introduction to French wine. They want to get the basics and have some fun.
Many are New World wine drinkers and they love sauvignon blanc but don't know San-
cerre is sauvignon.'
'That's a good idea. You could also do wine tours and maybe food and wine tours.'
The next day Kerry appeared with a piece of paper.
'I have worked out a potential day tour and costing for you.'
On the page was a suggested itinerary and budget of a day tour. Kerry was a powerful
force. He slept little, experimented a lot and read extensively.
I signed up for the wine course offered by our local wine organisation, the CIVRB. The
training of four sessions ran over a month and was a bit technical and only about Berger-
ac wines. I could see how I would run a class. My background in workshops and teaching
project management gave me a good base but I needed to increase my content knowledge;
growing and making wine for two years was not enough. At night, I reread all Sean's Wine
& Spirit Education Trust course topics.
Then my night-reading was stopped by something pressing: harvesting the reds. I could
not face sending the girls away
for the night again so we taught Sophia to use a walkie-talkie to call us when she woke up
on harvest mornings, with strict instructions to remain at the top of the steps until someone
came inside. We were terrified they would walk out into the courtyard where the enormous
harvest machine and the tractors were working. We explained the process and the top step
rule several times and did a few test runs. Sophia and Ellie were excited about their new
walkie-talkie responsibility.
The next morning the weather was fine and the first load of merlot came in and was trans-
ferred into the vat without a hitch. It was so smooth we were standing around with nothing
