The Wedding

It was Dan and Laura's wedding today. At the Chateau de Mauriac which is between Gaillac and Cordes.

Many years ago - '71? '72? - when I first bought the Gaillac Perlé and the little fruity red of Cordes, I thought I was a sort of wine David Livingstone who had ventured into the unknown and discovered wines previously unheard of. That wouldn't be the case today.

Even the caterers at the wedding are English! When I decline the Champagne (Laithwaites - Dan is nothing if not loyal) and ask for the 'Perlé' instead "because I was the first ever to ship that wine"...lead balloon! Not impressed!

I remember the man who invented that wine; the sainted Jean-Henri Dubernet who ran what was the ONLY wine producer (biggest in France) in the region.

The appalling French bureaucrats actually put him in prison for inventing a new way to make Gaillac taste better. At a time when it was the cheapest wine of France and the region was destitute.

Wish you could see it now, Jean-Henri; the region is doing very well! And there are lots of Gaillac wines of a quality might astonish even you.

We partied all night. French and British and German... with a great little band from London thumping them out. The old Chateau withstood the attack well.

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