My friend Wendy Eloit dropped me an e-mail with a "topic" for my blog the other day. She made me chuckle when she said: "You should tell them the story about our wine and ...!" It's a fun story that I think you'll enjoy.
Wendy and her family were hoping to sell their house in Tour de Faure. During the summer of 2004, Wendy came with her two children, Matthieu and Sarah, to finalize what she thought was going to be the sale of the house. I inherited some wonderful twin beds, bedding and a few other things that summer. And then there was the wine from their cave-quite difficult to get back with them to Viet Nam. I told them it was fine with me if they stored it in my cave. I wasn't living here full time back then and didn't foresee the cave being used or the wine being in anyone's way. It rested very quietly in my cave. Any temptation to pinch a bottle from time to time, was thwarted by my memories of my first week at Wendy's that summer of '98. I thought she had said I could help myself to wine. I went into the cave and picked a bottle of Cahors Château Caminade, and then mentioned how good it was during one of our telephone conversations. Imagine my surprise when she said: "Don't touch the wine in the cave! I'll have some sent over to you from one of the neighbors who is a wine merchant!" I felt really bad about the misunderstanding. I took my pitiful empty bottle and put it back in it's place, with a little note in it to her husband saying how sorry I was!
Once I started living here full time, I was hoping to set the cave up as a gallery and host a vernissage for the village. I had decided to call it La Galerie dans la Cave. At that point in 2008 (now 4 years later), I consulted my neighbors to see if it would hurt to move the wine and see if they had any suggestions. Of course, the most popular suggestion was that we should drink it! I told them my story...said absolutely not...and they then tried to convince me that it might go bad if we didn't drink it very soon! I held my ground and decided to use the wine as props and "atmosphere" for the opening. As you can see from the photo, they did the trick and blended in perfectly well with my photos, the artwork of other artists in the village, fruit collages from the collage class I had offered, and Stuart's special iron chairs. The evening of the vernissage, many people asked me if the wine was for sale and then gave me the quality critique! I told them, no it wasn't for sale, it belongs to my friends Wendy and Stephane who live in Viet Nam and I think they'll be coming next year to pick it up! So, five years later, July 4, 2009, Wendy, Stephane, Matthieu and Sarah will be arriving to visit me, and also collect their wine. The wine and I are excited about this! Neither of us has seen the Eloits' in the last 5 years, so it is going to be quite a reunion for all of us. And then there's the question of my neighbors...I think a party on the terrace will be in order so they can meet the infamous owners of the wine in Laury's cave! Maybe I'm going to have to start a collection of my own to keep the gallery ambiance in tact!
Have you had other events in your gallery?? I'm curious about why you couldn't drink the wine...did they have it laid down to age? Is it tres pricey?? What do Wendy and her husband do in Viet Nam? Guess I'm just curious about everything!!
Posted by: Evelyn Jackson | May 05, 2009 at 12:57 PM