Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The car and trailer were stuffed to bursting with barrels from a grand cru classé in the
Pessac-Léognan. We had developed a relationship with the owner during Sean's days buy-
ing the wines for the bank he used to work for. Now they sold us a few of their best second-
hand barrels each year. It was a fitting sight for tourists arriving into Bordeaux airport and
I could see them staring at us both because of the welcome I got and for the barrels, an icon
of our ancient profession.
'Sit next to me, Mummy,' said Ellie. I sat between them in the back seat so I could be
hugged and stroked all the way back to Garrigue.
It was good to be back in my French home. The community of Saussignac was something
to be savoured as our mayor regularly reminded us in his letters. Sophia started real school.
I drove home from the post office at midday on Sophia's first day and saw her new
Maîtresse about to enter her house opposite the school. She caught my eye and gave me the
thumbs-up. Sophia had settled in. I felt a wave of community warmth.
Mitch O'Sullivan, the owner of a specialist wine shop in Eymet, a bastide town near us,
loved our sauvignon blanc so much she wrote an article for a local paper about us. 'It's a
gem with hints of bergamot and Loire Valley sauvignon minerality,' she said, congratulat-
ing us on our success. The good news kept rolling in. I considered for a second the horror
of what we would have thrown away if we had sold the vineyard. We had come so close.
As I worked the pump and Sean filled the 'new' barrels with our red wine we talked ex-
citedly about the future; where we wanted to take our wines, biodynamic certification, a
wine school and the potential for the ruin. I realised our adventure had only just begun.
