La Gazette in La Poste
June 19th 2008, by GQ
We hosted a Bondholder dinner here at the château on saturday night, and a family of Bondholders (that is, one with two generations of Bondholders) rented the farmhouse for the week. Unfortunately, they had to leave earlier than planned but were at pains to point out that it had nothing to do with our cooking. It was a pity, because the garden is glorious when the sun is shining, and the heated pool looks seriously inviting.
But, as it was now free, we put the house to good use. This is the week of sending out the Gazette, at long last, so the small task of stuffing nearly 4000 envelopes was carried out here. I think this may have to be the last time of sending out a personalised covering letter, now that Angela refuses to sign any letters, as she has a recurring problem with her shoulder and shows symptons of repetitive stress syndrome. As a result, the signing count was Angela 22, me 3867. Of course, we should use automated signatures, but I have an aversion to them.
Download La Gazette No. 21 Summer 2008 as pdf (1.8mb)
Barton 2001-2008
June 19th 2008, by GQ
Thank you to everyone for the messages of support following the tragic death of our great little dog, Barton. For those friends and visitors to Bauduc who haven’t seen the news in our Gazette in the post, we are sorry to report that he was killed on 18 May.
For the first time ever, a family brought a dog with them to stay in the farmhouse and we had made it clear that we had two (harmless) dogs. Their dog, an obese dalmatian which had apparently come from a refuge, attacked and mortally wounded Barton as soon as they let it out of the house by mistake. He died in Angela’s arms as we drove him to the vet.
It still seems incredible to us that a dog lover could bring a dog, knowing it was a danger to other dogs, all the way from Rutland to Bordeaux by car, only for it to savage their hosts’ much-loved pet. They had barely unpacked before they left, mortified, just as we were burying the little chap. Added to which, we haven’t heard a word from them since. No flowers, no note, no email.
Darling Goes over the Top
June 7th 2008, by GQ
By our man in the trenches
Times are tough for the UK wine trade. The pound has slumped against the euro, the cost of wine at source and fuel prices have shot up, and consumers face the credit crunch.
If that wasn’t enough, the anti-alcohol lobby is winning the media battle, with middle-class binge-drinkers being portrayed as a drain on the nation’s resources. So the same government that brought in 24-hour drinking (for health reasons?) softened the way for the assault on responsible wine lovers.
Britain now boasts the highest rate of duty on wine in Europe. The Chancellor of the Exchequer slapped a record 14p on a bottle of wine in the Spring budget and pledged to increase duty above the rate of inflation over the next four years.
Duty on a bottle of wine is now nearly £1.50, plus VAT on the duty as well as the wine, while there is no duty at all in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Germany, while France fleeces its citoyens for all of 2p a bottle. And yet we manage to remain sober - well, most of the time.
Captain Darling even claimed that wine drinkers are better off under this Government: ”Alchohol has become more affordable. In 1997, the average bottle of wine bought in a supermarket was £4.45 in today’s prices. If you go into a supermarket today, the average bottle of wine will cost about £4.00.”
Perhaps, but what he didn’t say was that the government has trousered 37p more per bottle in duty in that time, before the new rate came into being. Producers have been forced to cut costs, and two thirds of wine sold in Britain today is on ’special offer’.
50% tax on an average bottle
On a £4.20 bottle on sale in the UK, which is the average price paid for a bottle of wine, £2.10 goes on duty and VAT, then there’s shipping, storage and distribution, plus the agent and the retailer’s margin. After the bottle, cork, capsule, label and packaging (we spend 50p on all these) that leaves rod all for the wine inside the bottle.
14,565 New Vines Planted
May 31st 2008, by GQ
Last week we planted a single parcel of nearly 3 hectares, or 7.5 acres, with a zillion new sauvignon blanc vines, just behind the winery (or chai) at Château Bauduc. A specialist team of 14 people did the whole job in a few days, from tracing out the block, knocking in the small supporting posts, digging the holes and planting the baby vines.
We had ripped the old vines after the 2006 harvest, and then worked hard to get the terrain in the right condition for the new plants. The plan was to plant earlier in the spring but it has been so wet it’s been difficult to prepare the ground properly. It turns out that this has worked in our favour, in that several growers have had problems with vines going in too early and having problems with too much rain or late frosts in April.