In 1990, Patricia Atkinson and her husband sold up in England and emigrated to the Dordogne to a ramshackle farmhouse surrounded by vines. Their vines were meant as a hobby but then came the recession: they lost everything apart from their dream house and the vineyard which was now their sole source of income. Disaster followed disaster: the first red wine harvest turned to vinegar and Patricia's husband developed a serious illness and returned to Britain. Patricia, whose knowledge of wine was 'that it came from a bottle' and who could not speak French, was left on her own to salvage what she could of their life savings. In a story of triumph over adversity Clos d'Ivigne, her 4 hectare plot, has become a major estate of 21 hectares, the wine from which has won France's top award.

Published: 2003

No. pages: 308

ISBN: 9781844133666

Condition: FAIR - softcover - 405g