Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Joel the Jolly than Joel the Gendarme. His clothes and hair told part of the story but he
also had a sharp wit and a love of practical jokes, passing me a wine glass of apple juice
destined for the kids instead of the white wine I had asked for as my aperitif. He lived next
door to Thierry and had four grown-up children, although he didn't look much older than
us. Next time he came round for an AOC
contrôle
I wouldn't feel the ball of fear in my
stomach like I had the previous times.
After the tasting, we were served aperitifs - a selection of wines from all the winegrowers
who were present with pâté and rillettes - and I got talking to Geoffroy Colombe and his
wife Delphine. The Colombes were famous wine producers in the area.
'What possessed you to move from successful lives in the city to wine-farming?' asked
Delphine. I had déjà vu to my mother's recent visit.
I explained that we were following a long-held dream.
'But wine-farming in France is so difficult,' said Delphine. 'With all the rules and our high
costs of production, how can we compete with the New World winemakers?' She meant
places like Chile, Argentina, South Africa, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, where
winemaking is less regulated and they have a much lower cost of labour.
'Idon'tknow,'Isaid,feelingatwistoffearinmystomach.Ifsuchsuccessfulfarmerswere
struggling, how would we survive? What were we thinking? Some of these people had cen-
turies of wine-farming experience behind them. If they were in trouble, we wouldn't have
a hope.
Geoffroy and Delphine's son joined our group. Jean was working for a wine shop in Eng-
land, having recently finished his studies.
'We've had twenty years of stress,' said Delphine. 'I can't believe you have given up com-
fortable lives in the city for this. Stress with farming and weather, stress with the harvest
and winemaking and serious stress with selling. It's not easy.'
'Perhaps having many small producers will prove to be France's saviour,' I said. 'People
are looking for something different. Look how California producers are creating special
vineyard areas and how large producers like E. & J. Gallo are splitting up their range to
cater to consumer demand for unique, small production wines.'
'Yes, I agree,' said Jean. 'Wine lovers are looking for the human touch, the artisans.'
'I hope you are right,' said Delphine, not convinced.
At that moment the first course of a feast was served. The lanterns twinkled and a gentle
summer breeze flapped the side of the tent as we sat down at the long trestle table that had
been speedily transformed for the banquet by Chantal Gerardin, the co-owner of Château
La Maurigne, and Isabelle, Thierry's wife. Five courses followed with accelerating repartee
as the night progressed. I soaked up the atmosphere. Rural France was supposed to be
closed, but here it was the opposite. There was a shared history and sense of place. It
was rich with generations and good humour but welcoming to newcomers like us. We had
landed in an extraordinary place.
