Grape Expectations (38 page)

  Mitch O'Sullivan, the owner of a specialist wine shop in Eymet, a bastide town near us, loved our sauvignon blanc so much she wrote an article for a local paper about us. 'It's a gem with hints of bergamot and Loire Valley sauvignon minerality,' she said, congratulating us on our success. The good news kept rolling in. I considered for a second the horror of what we would have thrown away if we had sold the vineyard. We had come so close. As I worked the pump and Sean filled the 'new' barrels with our red wine we talked excitedly about the future; where we wanted to take our wines, biodynamic certification, a wine school and the potential for the ruin. I realised our adventure had only just begun.

When I started this book it was a way to help me through the challenges of moving country and a dramatic change of life. Through the saga of our first year I felt impelled to tell the story. Now the story also has a message about our organic transformation.

  Being a producer changed my buying habits. Every cent I spend has an impact on the market. It's basic economic theory but living and feeling it personally changed my ways. The consequences of chemical farming are horrible: cancer for the workers farming the land, long-term destruction of the land, pollution in the water and chemical residues in the end product leading to potential cancer for consumers; but it's hard not to be addicted to cheap food sold beautifully dressed-up in supermarkets, especially on a tight budget.

  Our bakery laughed at me when I asked them for an organic baguette. I resolved not to buy from them any more. My miniscule purchasing power would make a difference, each purchase a declaration of what we believed in.

  Sean and I were in the kitchen cleaning up after the girls had gone to bed.

  'I will not support non-organic,' I raved. 'I have to find organic suppliers so we can buy direct. If I can't source an organic baguette, I'm going to make my own bread. I can't be talking organic all day then supporting something else with half my purchases because it's the easy option.'

  Sean laughed. I had never made bread in my life. I was still so far from a self-sufficient farmer's wife, my husband thought it was a joke.

  'Don't laugh. I'm serious.'

  'Well, don't tell me about it. Do something about it,' he retorted.

  The annual organic fair in Bergerac offered me a chance to make him eat his words. I found suppliers of everything from organic cosmetics to a biodynamic cheesemaker with whom we could share our lunar secrets. The revolution had started. Like us, people everywhere were on similar paths, discovering not only the joy and health of organic, but the ethics of it.

  A treasure was my organic flour supplier, a lively fellow with a Gallic moustache and great tufts of black hair coming out of his ears and his nose and over his glasses. He created flours and oils from his crops himself and they tasted clean and clear; like the essence of what they were. The day after the fair I made my first home-made bread. It was therapeutic and surprisingly easy. Kneading the dough gave me time to contemplate where we were and where we were going.

  The first phase of the violent birth of Château Haut Garrigue was complete. Through our voyage I had been transformed; from wine lover to winemaker; from consumer to producer; from ecological spectator to activist; and from outsider to insider. Sean's biodynamics in the vineyard and winery were at an early stage but we could already see what a difference it made. Sharing my passion for wine with wine lovers gave me a thrill.

  We invite you to be part of the next episode in this sometimes terrifying ride. Sign up to our newsletter or join our wine club. Email me on
[email protected]
, visit us or stay at our vineyard in our ecological accommodations. See
www.hautgarrigue.com
and
www.frenchwineadventures.com
for details. We look forward to hearing from you.

  
À bientôt!
  Caro

Thank you to all the wonderful characters in this book and to the team at Summersdale. Thank you to Laurence, my good friend and running partner, for reviewing the French language used in this book; nonetheless, any mistakes are my own.

  Big thanks to my friends who helped with feedback and editing in the early days of this book and encouraged me with 'tough love': Senan Molony, 'Bullet' Andrew Bolton, John Campion, Gabi Cutayar and Ian and Brigit Wilson.

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