This is not an editorial!
François-Régis Gaudry, the exceptional host of this letter number 11, looks back at the cultural dimension of wine in France, which, like gastronomy, was inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list in 2010! Reading the interview, one tells oneself that the temple will long be guarded by this kind of curious scholar, by this kind of programme singing the praises of eating well and drinking well in the French way. Like the Cahiers du Cinéma or Positif, which remain the unfailing guardians of a temple where Kurosawa rubs shoulders with Lang or Eisenstein! If the share of these lovers of dark cinemas is today a meagre portion, it seems to me that the legacy will be diligently preserved by these fine, great mentors. As François-Régis Gaudry also tells us, let us nevertheless take care not to stay in our own circle.
In reality, the analogy with wine holds insofar as the 1855 classification and other superfluous ratings find fewer admirers and interest fewer enthusiasts today, who long ago put their tastevins and RVFs away in deep cupboards. The fortress will, on the other hand, be defended in Bordeaux, let’s bet on it, by self-proclaimed guardians of the temple or ones legitimised by their own peers. Will that be enough to survive or to reconquer? We watch The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance over and over, but do we drink every Bordeaux with the same relish? It seems to me, as Christine Derenoncourt very intelligently says in our Spotlight, that Bordeaux wine clearly lost a little of its pride and appeal when it shed its Epicurean garb, losing in the same way its link to popular cooking. When, finally, it became proud of its commercial value alone, of the mere reflection of its dazzling costume in a mirror too large. A loss of substance quickly accompanied by a deleterious loss of meaning, damaging the living world, nature and the ecosystem.
As you will have understood, wine, the whole industry, has to moult, the very moult that Jean-Baptiste Duquesne calls for in the Carte Blanche. For my part, I believe that a glass of wine should contain the best that women and men have to offer. It remains the case that, against the grain of an agriculture that is losing its sense of purpose, the winegrower must be less exempt from his societal and environmental obligations. Small and large alike.
Postscript
This letter is my last. I regret to inform you that my assignment for Féret ends at the end of the month. Please know that I have taken great pleasure in accompanying you, in defending the industry by working assiduously on the rebirth of the fine house of Féret, and in putting together this newsletter. The ambition was to make the house and the forthcoming guide a precious and beautiful tool for promoting Bordeaux wines, a centuries-old know-how. I am leaving a fine team absolutely dedicated to this project, as mad as it is necessary. I therefore reiterate here my most sincere thanks to the talented Véronique, Romane and Valentine, who moved mountains in joy and good humour. I am eternally grateful for the immense trust they placed in me. I already know that I will cross their path again, as I will cross yours again, since I will remain, through my writing, my talks and tastings, the promoter of Bordeaux, of a certain Bordeaux.
Thank you again, and safe travels.
Faithfully yours.
Henry Clemens
