‘Writing is making sense of life.’ Nadine Gordimer
Chapter 34 – The Truth
I continue reading. ‘I could have told her that parents lie to their children. I misled Christine about the realities of the wine business. Because it meant so much for me, I made it sound better for her, brushing over the long hours and the poor pay. I was so proud when she chose to…
Chapter 33 – Papa
At home and loaded with Nurofen I am too restless to lie down. I pace the living room floor, my mind racing, disregarding my tired and aching body. The first anniversary of Papa’s death is in two weeks. What have I achieved since that mad race out of Argentina? My throat tightens and my eyes…
Chapter 32 – The Pits
I hear raised voices coming from the left. Sainsbury’s buyer has stepped back from Ed and Philippe. He looks cross. Philippe glances at me and urges me to come over with a nod. I take the few steps which separate us, trying to reinstate some sort of smile on my face. ‘James, sorry I have…
Chapter 31 – A Damning Article
Ed’s grumpy and won’t say why. He greets Philippe with a mumble and a half-hearted nod from the door instead of his usual politician-on-the-campaign-trail handshake. Mary has to repeat her offer of tea or coffee twice before he shows any sign of having heard her. Once in the meeting room, he slumps in the first…
Chapter 30 – Good Bye Tim
February vanishes in a flurry of client meetings, short visits to France and long telephone calls with Arnaud. He’s become so impatient he doesn’t wait for me or anybody else to get to his office when he needs to talk. He carries out pretend long-distance meetings where he conducts conversations with up to three different…
Chapter 29 – Misunderstandings
Ed joins in the applause which concludes the performance and proudly announces we’re only running twenty minutes late, quite a feat by our usual standards. He then gives the mike to the export marketing director who proceeds to tell us about the organisation of the international fairs where Villa’s exhibiting this year. We’ll be supporting…
Chapter 28 – Old Sins
I get an email from Rachel the following day. She’s had all the info back from stores and she’s about to invoice Villa for £27,753. Could I confirm this is acceptable? Her question is purely academic. Supermarkets deduct whatever they want from suppliers’ payments and the ensuing disputes are lengthy and fraught with pitfalls. Yet…
Chapter 27 – The Beginning of the End
Matt hails me as I pass his door. ‘I may not be able to get a new laptop for Philippe straight away.’ I slump in the chair opposite him. ‘With half of my team gone, it may take me, let me see, three weeks to order it and six to set it up,’ he says.…
Chapter 26 – A Rest and a Brutal Return to Reality
I try to call Tim at five. It’s four in London and the lunchtime drinks party must be finished by now. His mobile is turned off and I leave him a short message, wishing him a happy Christmas. In the evening we walk down the road to Notre Dame. Altar servers holding lit torches stand…
Chapter 25 – A Christmas of Two Halves
I go home to change at five. The Circle of Wine Writers Christmas party, a good opportunity to catch up with other wine professionals, is taking place tonight. Tim is a regular at such gatherings, which, I suspect, he sees as ideal hunting grounds. I call him to suggest we go together. He sounds surprised…
Chapter 24 – Running on Empty
I hang about at head office after the board meeting, hoping to catch Marguerite Villa and continue our conversation about my father. Two hours go by but she doesn’t make an appearance: time to go back to my hotel for another solitary evening. I crouch under the desk to unplug my laptop. ‘Why does Marguerite…
Chapter 23 – The Board Meeting
In order to avoid bumping into Arnaud, either at Gatwick or on the plane, I fly easyJet from Luton the following afternoon. I jump into a taxi at Bordeaux airport, and arrive at my hotel shortly before nine o’clock. Dinner on my own doesn’t appeal and I go straight to bed after succumbing to the…
Chapter 22 – Coming Clean and Coming Down
I make for Jen’s office. I may as well get all my awkward meetings over in one go. She’s on the phone when I walk in. ‘Hold on,’ she says to her caller. ‘Do you have five minutes?’ I ask. She gestures for me to sit down before turning her attention back to the phone.…
Chapter 21- Back to Business
Monday turns out to be a perfect crisp winter day. Despite my exhausting weekend, I wake up early, alert and impatient to go to work. My office is now the most attractive place on earth as the most exciting man in the world is working next door. I sing all the way there, skipping any…
Chapter 20 – The Fall
Three hours later, I’ve relaxed into some kind of party spirit. The Scottish dancing helped as did my gorgeous and very tall Australian partner. Tim has obeyed my injunction and stayed away from me, even though I can spot his shirt at the back of the room in the middle of a group of locals.…
Chapter 19 – The Mysterious Dominique
Five o’clock strikes at long last. My feet are sore from shuffling on the spot and my knees ache from standing for too long. Philippe lines up all the empties on the floor in front of the stand while I move the half-full bottles out of sight at the back. I’m not fast enough though…
Chapter 18 – The Consumer Wine Fair
A flock of visitors spills inside the room as soon as the gates open. They’ve paid twenty pounds each for their ticket and most of them intend to drink at least forty pounds’ worth of booze during the next few hours. The more practised aim for the Champagne stands before they get too crowded or…
Chapter 17 – Drunkenness and Temptation
The taxi stinks of unwashed armpits, takeaways and rose air freshener. I’d open the window but I don’t want to be rude. Forth One is blaring out. I can’t recall being asked if I minded the radio being on so loud. When we stop in front of the Parliament House hotel, I throw the fare…
Chapter 16 – A Poisoned Chalice
We return to the boardroom for lunch. Somebody has pulled up the blinds, and the cold unflattering winter light falls flat on every surface, revealing dust and cobwebs in the corners. The three cardboard crates, in which the plastic trays containing our lunch have been delivered, sit half-torn apart, in the middle of the room,…
Chapter 15 – Testoterone, Tears and Tasting
The third presentation of the day is meant to be a short update by Ed of the “transatlantic situation” as he describes it. ‘We all know how important the Canadian and American markets are for French wines and how crucial it is that Villa should be able to start selling over there again,’ he says.…
Chapter 14 – The Circus aka the Export Meeting
Serge arrives in Bordeaux just before midnight. After a flurry of phone calls, he joins Philippe and me in the restaurant of the Mercure hotel where we’re staying. While he wolfs down the club sandwich the kitchen agreed to prepare for him despite the late hour, I retrace for him my afternoon conversation with Marguerite…
Chapter 13 – Marguerite Villa
Philippe and I leave Kingston together. No point in taking two cars when airport car parks charge such extravagant rates. Between the two and a half days in Bordeaux for my meeting with Marguerite Villa, followed by the export meeting, and The Wine Shop’s wine fair in Edinburgh, we’ll be away for five days. The…
Chapter 12 – Creativity Unleashed
I slump in my chair and push aside the papers that have accumulated on my desk. Mary has unpacked a wine sample for me and bits of polystyrene cling to the side of the bottle. I pick them off one by one and drop them in the bin until a pointed look from Philippe makes…
Chapter 11- A Hellish Car Journey and Creative Wine Marketing
It’s raining hard when we leave The Super-Market, which allows André to comment on the British weather and the folly of anybody who chooses to live here. I ignore the dig and suggest we get on to the motorway and stop at the first services for a debriefing. ‘Will I be able to buy a…
Chapter 10 – In the Lion(ess) Den
Rachel greets us with a smile as we come out of the lift, enquiring after André and Jean Jacques’s flight and pecking me on the cheek. A French supermarket buyer, in similar circumstances, would be much sterner. André’s face breaks into a smirk and his shoulders drop. French people often misread British politeness for weakness…
Chapter 9 – Drip, Drip, Drip, Stress
Arnaud jabs his index finger at me. ‘I will fulfil the mission Madame Villa has given me.’ I’ve been in his office since eight thirty and I’m starting to fidget. ‘I won’t share my success with anybody,’ he says. I am tempted to ask, ‘Which success?’ but think better of it. I need to get…
Chapter 8 – Question Marks
I rush past Dave but not fast enough. ‘Good meeting with your new boss?’ he asks. ‘Sorry, I need to go back.’ ‘Of course you do.’ Back in the office, Mary is on the phone again. ‘How was it?’ Philippe asks. ‘Seb is leaving. I’ve met his successor, a guy called Arnaud Vidal.’ ‘What is…
Chapter 7 – Back to the Office
I fall into a comatose sleep the minute I sit on the plane and only wake up when we touch down at Gatwick. I reach Kingston upon Thames at five to three. It’s raining. The Wine Shop’s offices, and therefore Villa’s British headquarters, are located in an industrial estate, three miles from the centre of…
Chapter 6 – The Formidable André Lange
Back in the safety of my hotel room, a vicious headache kicks in.: the air conditioning is on full blast again, the note I left for the maid nowhere to be seen. I pick up my phone, start typing an apology to Jen and stop. Best to wait till tomorrow: in my current state of…
Chapter 5 – The Dinner That Goes Wrong
I should phone Maman. We speak every Sunday but I spent last weekend with Sam messing around with her kids and I missed my weekly assignment. I feel guilty but I can’t phone her now. She’d know I’m upset, and in trying to make it better she’d make it worse. She refuses to take an…
Chapter 4 – Lies and More Lies
Andy and Serge are discussing whether a drop of Muscat would enhance the flavour of their Chardonnay when I tiptoe back into the room. It looks like I haven’t missed too much. I prepare to apologise for my absence. ‘Bet it took you ages to speak to a real person,’ Andy says. I stare at…
Chapter 3 – Not Smelling of Roses
I got the job – again – the following Thursday, after two long hours of what felt like a police interrogation about every single detail of my work history to date, and at a lesser salary than the one agreed in Bordeaux. My trust in my new boss decreased in proportion to the cut he’d…
Chapter 2 – Back to Bordeaux
Until last summer, I worked for Terrazas de los Andes, an upmarket Argentinean producer from Mendoza. They’re owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. I spent eight years developing their UK business and sales were booming. I was spending a lot of time in Argentina with clients, prospects and the odd wine writer. Over there I…
Chapter 1 – A Wine Saleswoman
The alarm rings. I’m exhausted and I haven’t even woken up yet. Outside my bedroom, a door slams and a suitcase rolls past. A man is talking in the loud voice people use on mobiles. I turn over. The pillow is square, French. I open one eye. The light is Mediterranean bright. I had the…
Prologue
Papa opens the 1961 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Marguerite Villa has given him for his birthday. ‘It’s a stunning wine,’ he says, nose deep in his glass. ‘Must have cost her a fair bit,’ Maman says. She brushes invisible crumbs from the tablecloth and returns to the kitchen. The smell of roast beef wafts into…
Anne Burchett Writes 
Very well written Anne. Not having been in the wine trade ( though closely associated!) I can imagine how stressful it must be. I think you capture that very well. Most people think it must be an idyllic job but, of course, we know differently. Well done! I look forward to the next chapter. Robin has just started reading!
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I’ve managed to read the chapters! Gosh… It brings it all back. Captures the sense and spirit of the trade, with your own style. Love the addition of the French pop songs as a backdrop. Keepn going la patronne and thank you for sharing. Keen to read on. Bisous x
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I’m really enjoying this, thank you for sharing. It’s as different as it’s possible to be from my experiences as a buyer/importer with a tiny business and small wineries. Look forward to next week’s instalment!
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Thank you Rachel. This is the unglamourous side of the wine business, one that is seldom talked about.
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