What a week end !

We visited part of the vineyards of Saint Emilion with Alain Brumont (Montus Madiran, etc…). I enjoyed seeing him marvel at our beautiful terroir and especially at the work accomplished in the vineyards by men and women in what could be considered, to say the least, a difficult vintage. I like to show the vineyards of Michel Sauru who is a member of the cooperative (Union des producteurs) whose vines are so well kept that some of the classified growths could draw some inspiration from him – instead of tooting their horn instead of adapting to the demand of their customers and to competition.

So, “Vive Saint Emilion” which looks more and more like a well tended garden and will be able to withstand international competition. I think that Alain and Laurence had fun cycling through the area (40 kms): Pomerol, Lussac, Montagne, Saint Georges, Puisseguin, Castillon and Saint Emilion.

In the evening, we surprised them by being invited by our cork supplier to a meal and an auction for “Le Nid”, an orphanage in Meknes in Morocco. The common thread between Saint Emilion and this orphanage is Abou and Mario Marfi who, in their historical and successful restaurant of Le Cadène know how to receive us like friends.

156 guests were gathered for a good cause and have a good time drinking great wine in the room provided in the family Aubert’s property, Château La Couspaude.

Around 50 lots were sold at very high price (generosity needed) with one of the guests spending over 5000 Euros!
In all, they collected close to 40 000 Euros in one evening. Some Moroccan children will learn that Saint Emilion wine can bring them a bit of happiness. This very friendly evening gave us the opportunity to reconnect with long lost friends (François Dumas), meet icons (Laberdolive in Armagnac) and see that in Saint Emilion, grand crus, classified growths, small chateaux, and garage wines can all gather together for a good cause.

We went to bed late but had the pleasure to go to the market in Libourne on Sunday morning where the first ceps of the season were sold for around 20 Euros, small consolation for a gloomy Summer…