My Life in Languedoc - A Memoir in Chapters #3

A Luna Landscape

John and Nicole are the owners of a small organic winery in the Minervois called Close du Gravillas. They were two of the first people I met when I was searching for wineries for my tours. I was drawn to their pioneering spirit, driven by a passionate desire to make the best Languedoc wine possible.

Nicole is a true Occitanne, born in the Roman city of Narbonne whereas John hails from the plains of Kentucky where bourbon is the drink of choice. They met at a party when John was living in Paris and had gone to Narbonne with his boss for the weekend. They fell in love and eventually John made his home in Languedoc and somewhere along the way Nicole got the winemaking bug. I’m pretty certain, being a vigneron had never been in Johns sights and for Nicole, the closest she’d come to wine, apart from drinking it, was a job in the export office of a winery.

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