leaning forward

have you ever met someone who just seems to lean forward in life - bright eyes and energetic gate - someone you knew immediately you would like - that would be Veronique Barthe - while trying to find her vineyards I asked a few times by the name of the vineyard and the person would not understand but when I said Veronique their eyes would light up and they'd say "oh, Veronique!" - she's been a lifetime farmer - the first female ever to run the family business - her great, great, great grandfather got married on the same day as Napoleon Bonaparte so he gave the land to him as a reward for choosing that date for marriage - quite a bequethal!

we pulled up and she came bounding towards us with a big "bon jour" and we were off and running - harvest had just finished and she was giving us a tour and directing her staff with equal ease - she directed two young shirtless men inside a tank shoveling the skins out of a fermentation tank to stop so Jamie could take a picture and said - "pose like Chippendales please" and laughed - when we spilled wine on a new case while tasting her wines later - soiling it a bit she said "no problem, we'll just ship that one to America" super fun lady with inexpensive and tasty wines - will be in my store in the $12 range when I return

"it's not a question - you must go to the village of St. Emilillon - one of the most beautiful in all of France!" were Veronique's final instructions - we did - she was right - if you're a cork dork like me you know that village as the home of one of the most famous wines in the world - Cheval Blanc - the the 1961 vintage of that estate was the wine that's Miles was carrying around during the entire movie in Sideways so - wasn't a big stretch for me to make the short trip. On entering the ancient village a wine store was first up - I walked in and immediately had a sales guy say to me - these 4 wines here are all Parker 100 point wines - can't escape the big guy even over here - when he figured out I knew a little bit about wine and deduced I was extremely wealthy he took me down to the cellar where for just $60K I bought one each of the five 1st Growths of Bordeaux (trust me that is just unbelievable) - one each of Petrus and Cheval Blanc and a Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes - to have one of each of those wines from the legendary 2005 vintage is a wine lovers dream - can someone help cover that check when I return?

here's a summary of the rest of the day

 














your pal,

mt