Preparation for the campaign

At 9 am, visit from a Bordeaux broker to talk about my wines. As Château Valandraud and Virginie de Valandraud are my only wines sold on the open market, without exclusivities or interdiction, and this since 1992, there is not much to say, or to do, except, maybe, to take Virginie de Valandraud out of this particuliar sales system which, in "average" vintages is only good for the 30 top brands. Other than that, Clos Badon, Prieuré Lescours, Bel Air Ouÿ, Bellevue de Tayac, Calvet-Thunevin are often sold with exclusivities in some countries. This protects importers and distributors from aggressive companies who are only looking to destabilize the work already done by selling the wine with little margin only to prove that they are the best. Brands depending on this sort of competition must be quite strong to resist.

Getting back to my broker, we discussed the Vignobles Fayat and this morning, he reserved 150 cases of La Dominique 2006 for a big Bordeaux wholesaler.
It is already the second order, for the same amount of cases made by another broker for another wholesaler. La Dominique 2006 has been well received by some of my colleagues who have taken the time to taste the product presented "en primeur" and who are able to take a stand without waiting for the opinion of Bob Parker or other big American, English or even French media.

9:45 am visit of a property in Saint Emilion where the wines presented were too cold and had the same problems as mine (tight, hard, dry). Beautiful property, with charming people in charge. I will taste these wines again at the right temperature.

From noon to 2 pm, lunch with 11 person at home: they were part of friends of our attorney who wanted to celebrate the retirement of one of their friends. I rarely saw such a group of food enthusiast. This made me realized how lucky we are to have jobs where this type of meal is common, when in other profession it would be considered as one of the best meal ever organized. It is true that this meal (as well as the wines) were simply perfect.

From 5 to 8 pm: General Assembly of the Syndicat de Pomerol where I represent the Vignobles Fayat and Le Domaine Fayat-Thunevin. This little appellation (800 hectares) and the small numbers of owners gives this organization a family and friendly feel , except for one owner who asked 90% of the questions, with a real French attitude, which consists of always repeating the same thing, often with a negative tone. Not my style, but as we say in French: "you need every sorts of people to make the world"... Thanks to everyone who fights for our interest, trade associations or others.

C'est parti !

The first notes from Wine Spectator just came out as well as the first podcasts on the vintage!
The wheels are now in motion!