Virgile’s Vineyard, A year in the Languedoc Wine Country
Virgile’s
Vineyard was first published in 2003, and it has stood the test of time,
providing a very accessible introduction to the wine culture of the
Languedoc. Patrick Moon relates a year
in the life of a young wine grower, Virgile Joly, who after working elsewhere
in France and overseas, has bought a vineyard and is intent on creating his own
wine estate. And Patrick, newly arrived
in the Languedoc, is keen to learn about the region’s wines, and so he shadows
Virgile’s work for the year, from pruning to harvesting to bottling, and
everything else in-between, including covering one of the big issues for any
new wine grower in the Languedoc, how and where to sell your wine. He sympathetically relates the trials and tribulations
of a new wine grower, when things go well and not so well.
Humour is
provided by Patrick’s encounters with his neighbour, Manu, a caricature of the
archetypal French paysan, who enjoys consuming vast quantities of wine, in
sharp contrast to his extremely abstemious wife – I am not sure that we ever
learn her name. Manu is game to be Patrick’s
guide for any cellar visits further afield, so appellations other than the
immediate surroundings of St. Saturnin are covered, with visits to wine growers
who are still important in the region.
And a sense of the long history of the Languedoc is provided by Krystina,
an ex-history teacher and owner of the
local château and another caricature, to provide some more humour.
Since 2003
things have moved on, and the book has been republished, with an Afterword to
bring the story of Virgile Joly fully up to date. And in between Patrick wrote a second book
that focused on the food of Languedoc, Arrazat’s Aubergines, Inside a Languedoc
Kitchen, about a young chef who started a restaurant near his home village, in
which the continuing story of Virgile is also covered. Sadly Arrazat’s restaurant did not last for
long, but the book considers some of the gastronomy of the Languedoc. And Virgile has now successfully established
an international reputation for his wines, most recently with the help of Naked
Wines.
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