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Ellie tried to grab the phone and I couldn't blame her. I was finding it somewhat difficult
to control my frustration too.
I explained calmly that the INAO Bergerac had sent me to her. She was apologetic but
adamant that they were the only people who could solve my problem.
After settling Ellie into her high chair I called INAO Bergerac again to be told a little
more firmly that despite what Paris had said there was nothing she could do.
'Contact the Bergerac liquidator and your notaire ,' said Madame and put down the phone.
The liquidator was on vacation and the Scarlet Pimpernel, our notaire , was unavailable.
As a last resort I called Jamie.
'I'll try to grease the wheels for you, Caro, but I can't promise anything. Sometimes there's
no logic to these things,' he said.
I visited the notaire' s offices in Saussignac and found his assistant in.
'Officially I can't do anything,' she said. Then glancing around to see no one was looking
she whispered, 'I'll make a few calls for you.'
Jamie called back a few hours later and said he had got nowhere. If Jamie couldn't swing
it, it wasn't possible. I put down the phone, defeated.
Cécile, our vineyard consultant, came to do our weekly tour of the vineyard. Most of
her service was free to us as newly installed young farmers, a huge bonus. We started this
routine as soon as the first buds appeared. I was the person touring the vineyard each week
while Sean looked after les enfants . He still wasn't confident enough in the language to take
on the weekly meeting. He planned to take a course with a local language school at the end
of the growing season when we hoped his work pressure would ease, so I wouldn't have to
make all his phone calls and take his meetings for him. Contrary to my initial misgivings,
though, I looked forward to my weekly meeting with our vineyard consultant, taking copi-
ous notes for debriefing Sean. Cécile was a mine of information. Her knowledge, attention
to detail and reliability were refreshing. At the end of her visit we stopped for our usual
summary of the position.
'Have you made your vineyard declaration for the Saussignac?' said Cécile.
'I don't think so. What is it?'
'You need to declare Appellation Contrôlée Saussignac and Appellation Contrôlée Côtes
de Bergerac vineyards upfront. The deadline for the declaration was yesterday. Didn't you
get a form in the post?'
'No,' I replied, feeling nauseous. Both of these appellations were part of our planned range
of wines.
'Contact the INAO straight away,' said Cécile. 'They may let you make a late declaration
because you didn't get the forms.'
There were four bodies that controlled the lives of the Bergerac winemaker, and I didn't
know which was responsible for sending these all-important forms. After more than six
months I was still totally confused about where the lines of responsibility lay between the
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