A Vineyard in the Dordogne - How an English Family Made Their Dream of Wine, Good Food and Sunshine Come True. Jeremy Josephs
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A VINEYARD IN THE DORDOGNE
HOW AN ENGLISH FAMILY MADE THEIR DREAM OF WINE AND SUNSHINE COME TRUE
JEREMY JOSEPHS
CONTENTS
Title Page
FOREWORD
PRELUDE
CHAPTER ONE
THINKING PINK
CHAPTER TWO
PUTTING PAPER-CLIPS FIRST
CHAPTER THREE
RED WINE IN HIS VEINS
CHAPTER FOUR
AN ENGLISHMAN’S HOME
CHAPTER FIVE
GOD SAVE JAUBERTIE!
CHAPTER SIX
MADAME BROUETTE
CHAPTER SEVEN
BONDHOLDERS IN THE BATH
CHAPTER EIGHT
MONSIEUR LE MAIRE
CHAPTER NINE
FATHER AND SON
CHAPTER TEN
IN SEARCH OF THAT SWEET TASTE
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HEALTH AND WEALTH
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘SEE THE MAN WHO HAS FAITH’
Copyright
WHEN I FIRST approached Nick Ryman with the idea of writing his story, he told me in no uncertain terms where to go. Undeterred, I rang back. The second time he repeated his distinctly unwelcoming message even more vigorously. Despite that rather unpromising start, I eventually managed to persuade him of the seriousness of my purpose and after careful consideration he decided to give my project the green light. From the outset I emphasized that while my approach would be sympathetic, it would not be sycophantic. And to his credit, Nick agreed.
The Bacco family, Joseph, Agnès and François, whose lives were intertwined with those of the Rymans for over twenty years, also cooperated with me fully, and I’ll never forget the red-carpet treatment they gave me when I met them for the first time.
The writing of this book took over my own family’s life, as I whizzed between Bordeaux, Bergerac, Paris and elsewhere. But in fact, each time I inflicted my offerings on my wife Clair, she proved to be a skilful editor in her own right, and much credit is due to her insights.
I must also extend a big thank you to all the Josephs, both in France and England, who helped me in the research and writing of A Vineyard in the Dordogne.
I would also like to express my gratitude to the following people, all of whom assisted in various ways. So, very many thanks indeed to Eric Allonge, Pat Atkinson, Agnès Bacco, Fabienne Bacco, François Bacco, Joseph Bacco, Anthony Barton, Richard Bartholemew, Malcolm Brinkworth, Ginette Cathala, Jonathan Cavender, Nick Cooper, Stephen Davis, Richard Dawes, Maryvonne Denée, Sue Donoghue, Carole Huber, Esme Johnstone, Sara Johnstone, Stan Kinns, Michèle Lattes, Jean-Louis Lesage, Jonathan Margolis, Charles Martin, Sylvia Miller, Gabrielle Mondié, Henry Mondié, Patrick Montfort, Emil Perauer, Anne Ryman, Dr Anne Ryman, Camilla Ryman, Cicely Ryman, Corinne Ryman, Desmond Ryman, Hugh Ryman, Nick Ryman, Marie-Claude Sampson, Carole Sedler, Sian, Robert Smith, Marie-Pierre Tamagnon, Jean-Louis Trouillon, Murielle Valentini and Alan Whytock.
Jeremy Josephs
IT HAD BEEN his dream for as long as he could remember. To live in France. To make excellent wine in a vineyard of his own. And to make his home in an elegant château. Was this not, Nick Ryman wondered, many an Englishman’s dream?
From the very first moment he set eyes on it he had fallen in love with Château de la Jaubertie. ‘That’s exactly what I want,’ he said to the delight of the local estate agent. I’ll take it.’ Not yet forty, he was in the fortunate position of being able to buy more or less what he wanted. All as a result of his own hard work, though, for he had spent the previous two decades transforming the family’s small stationery business into a huge success and indeed a household name. Without hesitation he offered the full asking price of two million francs for the château.
The Sauvats, the wily owners, knew exactly how to handle their wealthy purchaser from overseas. For the next two years they were to blow hot and cold in respect of the sale, always managing to put up the price in the process. Nick Ryman had tried to free himself from the magical hold of Jaubertie. So too had his wife Anne. But to no avail, for in their search for an alternative they saw nothing to compare with it. Within two years the price had doubled. ‘Offer four million then,’ Nick told the agent.
On Saturday, 29 September 1973, Nick arrived at a notary’s office in Saussignac, a small village just outside Bergerac in the Dordogne, ready to sign the acte définitif. It was with much relief that he put his name to that legal document, despite the fact that he was paying considerably over the odds for his folie. Then Monsieur Sauvat did likewise. But when it came to Madame’s turn to append her signature, she appeared to hesitate for a while, as if overcome by the emotion of the occasion. Swiftly recovering her composure, she proceeded to give all those present a piece of her mind. I shall never sign for the sale of Château de la Jaubertie,’ she announced. And with those words she picked up the notary’s fountain pen and hurled it across the table. ‘Never.’
SHE WAS HOPING for a girl. Though when she thought about it more rationally Agnès Bacco knew very well that she really ought not to be expressing any particular preference. For by the early spring of 1963 she had been hospitalized for a little over a month in Bergerac, a picturesque Dordogne town and a centre of French gastronomy. There, just a stone’s throw from the river that gives the region its name, she had been left with little choice other than to comply with her doctor’s orders not to stray from bed so long as her bleeding showed no signs of abating. She might not have been able to read and write, but the rather squat, dark-haired nineteen-year-old hardly needed reminding that the chances of her pregnancy ever proceeding to term were slender indeed. Yet the fact that the odds seemed to be relentlessly stacking up against her did not deter Agnès Bacco in the least. For as long as she could recall she had dreamed of one day giving