The e-mail from David

I have decided to post a subsequent e-mail from David regarding my last post...

The pacherenc was super, it is usually slightly sweet by the way. The madiran must rest a week or so after its journey, it is five years old, just about ready to drink but old wine doesn't like any kind of journey - even from wine merchant to your home. I used to tell people to let any good bottle rest for as long as had been travelling.

I have done some research with my books, Lembeye was never in my memory but I see it as 'vinously important'. It may be a three bar, two baker shops 'bled' (Arabic word used in French slang - meaning a small village of no account) but it is also the postal address of two very large and prestigious producers of madiran and pacherenc du vic-bilh (wine producers here always produce the two wines, one red the other white) Next looking at my books I see that one is Chateau de Peyros - and that name I do remember, because long ago I did set out to get their madiran sold to wine merchants here and so we (self and my senior partner in a French wine agency - which sells on behalf of French 'principals', shipments to the UK Wine Trade) 'shew' the wine to trade buyers at the London Wine Trade Fair in 1990.

The USP of madiran ('unique selling proposition' in case you are not familair with adspeak?) is that the principal grape variety used is called 'tannat' , an appropriate name since it makes the wine tannic in its youth. SW France/Gascony being the only place in France (therefore the World) where tannat is grown. Except extraordinarily - Uruguay! Yes, because of French emigrants in the 19th century. We didn't learn this until the mid 1990s. (all of this information is true and correct, totally useless though unless you are - and I know that you are - addicted to fine wine) Chateau de Peyros then had about 150 ha and their madiran was pricey (all madiran is and deservedly so) Ch.Peyros compares favourably to fine claret (but with its own gascon style)

The other, much bigger operator with a Lembeye address is at Crouseilles ( a co-op with maybe 400 members, high standards and by now maybe 4-5000ha.) It was their pacherenc du vic-bilh we drank, it was about four years old, and at 13% and just the right bit of (natural) sweetness. Now - what an unusual name for a wine, it doesn't sound French at all? Well it isn't 'langue d'oil' , the classic French of the North and above all the Loire Valley. It is a (gascon) dialect form of 'langue d'oc' which itself evolved from 'dog' latin and has hard terminal consonants. Let's dissect. Vic-bilh - ' Vic' is a place name, of a small mountainous region. 'Bilh' simply means 'vieux' in this old dialect. Pacherenc is the name of the principal grape variety, which is now called 'arruffiac' or 'ruffiac' (also once known as 'peau de chien'!) Originally this might have been the only grape to have been used, and it was also the first wine grape ever to have been planted as single vines, each with its own stake (like a standard rose tree) For going back 400/500 year all vines grew 'a la foulee' - all over the place just like wild blackberries . Nowadays pach /vic-bilh will have other cépages - gros manseng, peit manseng, sauvignon, semillon. We should pass from technical stuff...

So from fact to fantasy. In one of my books I read of Dumas, who wrote about (invented?) the most famous gascon ever. The author complains however that he did not ever write of D'Artagnan drinking pacherenc. He goes on to write that D'Artagnan lived in the Chateau d'Arricau, near Lembeye But wasn't D'Artagnan a fictional hero? Ans. Not for me. He really lived. Finally the same author reckons that whenever one drinks pacherenc one will hear the tinkling of rapiers 'le tintement des rapieres'. I heard no such thing, did you? I just revelled in the envelope of flavour.

I could go on endlessly , but won't.

David

P.S. Today would D'Artaganan be a fly-half. Gascony and all of SW France is rugby country.

Really knowing about wine

I recently stayed in a place in the south of France, a tiny village with 4 bakeries and three bars - typically French! Now, J and I made friends with a lady, an ex-pat who sadly lost her husband several years ago, who has built on the work she and her husband did and now has a thriving business.

One day she was talking about her husband and told us he used to work for the BBC ordering and preparing food for the TV programmes. Suddenly a connection was made in my head! David, who I have blogged about before, an old man who goes to Japanese class with me, used to work for the BBC ordering wine for the TV programmes! I asked her if she remembered David and she did! Especially that David didn't get on with her husband (which clinched it with me because that sounds so like David to take a dislike to someone for seemingly no reason!)

After some interesting conversation about her husband's work and David she disappeared out of the room and returned with a bottle of "WHITE" wine and offered it as a gift to take back to David! I enjoy wine, and in my experience anyone who knows a little about wine will say that red wine is the best and they never touch white!

So, I visited David a few days ago and offered him my bottle of red Madiran wine that I had saved for him. He was pretty pleased and said thank you. I expected no more. Then I went into the story about the lady I had met in France and produced the bottle from a (french) bag a little reluctantly...

His face brightened immediately and he announced to me, barely looking at the label "Ah! A bottle of Pacherenc!". This took me by surprise and he immediately went into anecdotes about the wines of the region, the history of the wine, and stories of his travels to the area! We opened the bottle and really enjoyed it together. Apparently, the wine can vary and this one was fairly sweet (but imo dry at the same time) and a deep yellow in colour.

I'm not sure if it is the connection that I made and the anecdotes, or whether on its own it is a marvelous wine. I have never celebrated a white wine so much as that day!

The two lessons I have learnt here are: never judge a wine by its label and wine connoisseurs enjoy good white wines as well as red wines.

Gym progress

Since returning from France, on working days I have been getting up at least an hour earlier every morning at about 6.00am and heading straight to the gym. This means I also get into work between 8.30 and 9.00am, which is well before most of my colleagues get in!

I am really determined to get rid of my spare tyres that I have been carrying around with me since my teens. Today I weighed in at just over 74Kg (11 stone 9). Clothes are fitting me better again, and I feel the benefits in everyday life!

Since France I have done no running outside of the gym. I don't consider this too bad as I am going to the gym more and I am building up my fitness, but as the weather is improving it is ideal to go running!

The weights regime that Anna, my trainer, has set me is getting easier, so today I fulfilled my requirements, then did an extra set on most machines at the next weight setting. That is after two weeks! I guess it's going to be a fine balance - I want to feel the benefits, but I don't want to give myself a hernia!

Do I take life too seriously?

I enjoy life, and I love doing and experiencing things that make my life seem better. For example, travelling, buying things, eating and making good food, meeting people, learning new things.

I hate it when things don't happen, or fail to occur in the way that I expected (unless what happens outclasses what I expected).

The thing that stresses me out most of all is work. I work with people who don't really care about what they do. Their lapsidasical approach frustrates me because I want the result from my project to be the best. (If you are reading this and wondering if I am talking about you, then it probably isn't you! Reason: The people who I am talking about are fully aware of my feelings toward them! Ask me in person if you want to be sure!)

But should I care? Should I take a step back and think to myself "Does it really matter?"? If I am living to work it should really matter, but I know that when it comes down to it I am working to live - that is, to make my life better for now and the future.

So, why do I lie awake at night running made up conversations through my head about things that I would want to say to these people? Why do I let it get me down? Why do I feel like everyone else gets recognition for the work they do, and I get left behind doing the same old?

To be honest, I want to make big changes in my life - job, where I live, hobbies, fashion, blah, blah - but there are certain things holding me back. Mostly financial, and I know these will be dealt with within the next 3 years.

Ahhh.. suddenly I feel happier thinking about a target - 2010 should be a good year!

I briefly saw Jo Cameron from The Apprentice series 2 (http://www.jocameron.co.uk/) this morning on TV and she said to write things down - and I feel far better and motivated after blogging this! I think she's great!