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noon. On their return she decided he was too religious for her, gave him the boot and per-
suaded the Pope to annul their marriage.
Then she married Henry Plantagenet who became Henry II of England, so Aquitaine was
in English hands. During this part of her exciting life she gave St Émilion their city rights
in return for fifty barrels a year of their premium wine. For the ensuing 300 years of Eng-
lish rule, the only French wines exported to England, and to her trading partners, were
Bordeaux. Partly thanks to this export monopoly, Bordeaux is still the most well-known
wine region in the world. Merci , Eleanor.
We went into the Belair caves (cellars) to see their old vintages; wines dating back to
1802 when they were the first to do mise en bouteille au château, estate-bottled wine. It
was a treasure trove of old vintages in ancient golden tunnels and cave rooms that were
like something out of a film set. Bordeaux was a universe of wine stars waiting to be dis-
covered. I felt like a child inside a sweet shop just bursting to try them all.
Sheila and Jeff were ecstatic about their stay, describing it as 'perfect' and commending
my knowledge. I felt I still had a lot to learn but their comments fired me up about our new
line of business.
It was six months since I spat our first vintage red wines out in disgust and the wait was
payingoff.Nowtheywerestrongandsmooth,allblackfruitandmocha.Almosteverything
was ordered for the imminent bottling including our new label, which featured a photo of
our ancient well artfully enhanced by our printer's creative studio. It made our premium
wine look grown-up, serious and delicious. The logistics for the bottling were perfectly
aligned. Then the bottle supplier called to say he could not supply due to a gross bottle
shortage in Europe.
In a panic I called our agricultural supply company that I knew supplied bottles too. They
took the order and asked me to come in for a meeting where I was presented to the owner
of the business, a cigarette smouldering in his hand despite the workplace smoking ban.
'Aren't you the one who didn't pay your bill a few months ago?' he asked, flapping my
€7,000 bottle order in the air and blowing smoke in my face.
'No. We didn't pay for a faulty product last year but otherwise we always pay our bills on
time.'
He berated me a little more and blew a bit more smoke in my face.
'Our supplier has cancelled all bottle deliveries for February. We can't even fulfil orders
for our most loyal customers.'
It was a calamity. I pleaded and begged.
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