It's the wine lover's pet fantasy - one that is nurtured to new heights of intensity by the weeping grey skies of an Irish summer. A chateau in France with a couple of vineyards. Sunshine, civilised living and the satisfaction of producing your own wine - a much bigger kick, it's safe to assume, than can be derived from self-sufficiency here, battling to keep the slugs off a few rows of lettuce. Would you ever have the nerve to try it? Could it work if you're not French? Listen to the stories of an Irishman, an Englishman and a Welsh couple who are living out the dream.
"When we first came here four years ago I nearly died," says Catherine O'Brien, chatelaine of Vignelaure, a heavenly looking pink chateau in Provence. "The house had been inhabited only by rodents, snakes and creepycrawlies for 10 years and it took us another two to get them out. We had no heating, no electricity . . . I cut away the brambles in the courtyard until my hands bled."
But David O'Brien felt instinctively that Chateau Vignelaure was right. A successful racehorse trainer like his father Vincent, he had decided in 1988 to embark on a career which would give him more time with his young family. "He wanted to work on the land, preferably in vineyards. He's a very outdoors type," says Catherine who, in common with his mother, hails from Perth. Properties were vetted in Australia, New Zealand and eventually France - to no avail, except that David O'Brien garnered useful viticultural and winemaking experience along the way.
Then, working as a cellar hand at Vignelaure - a once highly rated property that had fallen into neglect - he saw acres of potential. In partnership with Rystone Wines, a company owned by the English wine duo Hugh Ryman and Esme Johnstone, a deal was promptly done and the O'Briens moved from Ballydoyle, Co Tipperary to the crumbling 18th-century chateau 20 miles from Aixen-Provence.
The medals won recently both by the fragrant rose and the serious, muscular red show what enormous strides they have made. Hugh Ryman comes over from Bordeaux one day a fortnight, and each year a different Antipodean winemaker is invited to oversee the vintage, but David O'Brien is totally involved. "He does absolutely everything, from checking the vineyards every day to cleaning out the crusher," says Catherine. "Sometimes I ask him: `Wouldn't you like to be leading in a Derby winner instead?' He always says no." With super wines to his credit and four small, bilingual O'Briens tumbling around happily in the Provencal sun, who could blame him?
You might think Philip and Marianne Mallard have had an easier time of it, over in the Dordogne. Or at least a more gradual immersion. She is French and he, although English, had been living in France for years before they met in the early 1980s. Philip Mallard had set up the Paris office of Jones Lang Wootton, the British property company, before detouring into the wine bar business. Marianne was studying art and architecture. Slowly they developed the idea of running a wine estate.
"We didn't do it to make money. We did it because of passion!" she declares, bubbly as a fermentation vat. Passion, but certainly not love at first sight. When they settled on buying Chateau Pique-Segue near Bergerac, the buildings were so tumbledown they had to rent a gite. But they knew the terroir was capable of producing great wines, especially with the ecological approach they favoured. Every penny they had went into a new winery which is run with fastidious attention to detail - Marianne having studied oenology at Bordeaux in the meantime.
Not only are the Mallards' wines impressive but, as you'll see from our £6.99 Bottle of the Week, they are also extraordinarily good value. The top level Chateau Dauzan-La-Vergne white and red cost £8.99 and a delicious dessert wine tasting of candied peel will be in Ireland soon at around £8.99 per half-litre bottle. As if all this vinous effort weren't enough, they breed pedigree Limousin cattle on the slopes of their Dordogne valley as well. Philip admits to an obsession with cows since childhood. "And the manure is fabulous for the vines." In 1989, the year the Mallards bought their ragged dream, Bob and Susan Watts swapped Cardiff for Chateau du Seuil, south-east of Bordeaux. "Our parents were no longer alive and our daughter had grown up, so our roots could afford to be moved," Susan explains. Why would a lawyer with a commercial property business drop everything for wine? Bob Watts had a farming background and felt confident he could grow grapes as successfully as anything else.
"We decided on Bordeaux right away," Susan says. "We wanted warmth, which meant coming south of the Loire, and Languedoc-Roussillon wasn't producing exciting wine at that time. We were advised that the Graves appellation had a lot of potential." Run down and within their budget, Chateau du Seuil fitted the bill. The elegant 19th century house needed substantial refurbishment. "The roof and floors were good but the drains were appalling. There wasn't a loo that worked. If anybody turned on more than one light there was a bang - and to make matters worse, all of south Wales came to visit us that first summer. We didn't have a kitchen so we had to cook outside." With only a small proportion of the estate under vine, maize fields were turned into vineyards and more land bought. The first year, a local vigneron helped with the vintage. The second, 1990, Bob Watts bravely made the wine himself, with technical assistance from the local lab. "We were wine lovers but we actually knew very little," Susan Watts admits. "So it was a learning curve that went ballistic. To say that Bob is passionne is an understatement." Again, fierce commitment shows in wines of star quality which are winning widespread international acclaim. Financial reward is also beginning to seep through. "The balance sheet finally began to show a return just two years ago." Now, knowing that, would you ever take the plunge?
White
Chateau PiqueSegue, Montravel, 1996 (Molloys, McCabes, Vintry Rathgar, Duffys Terenure, Verlings, Sweeneys Dorset Street and Fairview, Bolands Glasnevin, Spar Castleknock, Jus de Vine Portmarnock and other outlets, usually £6.99). Simply the essence of summer. See Bottle of the Week.
Domaine du Seuil, Bordeaux Blanc Sec, 1997 (Mitchells, £9.99; also Direct Wine Shipments Belfast). If you can't afford the smooth and exotically fruity white Graves from Chateau du Seuil, here's a simpler, less expensive wine that's still extremely attractive - flowery and fresh, with the same aromatic appeal.
Rose
La Source de Vignelaure, Coteaux d'Aix en Provence, 1997 (McCabes, Raheny Wine Cellar, Corner Food & Wines South Circular Road, Mill Wine Cellar Maynooth; also available direct from James Nicholson, usually £7.99). A super Provencal rose which has been festooned with medals - with delicate fruit flavours and terrific acidity to set the tastebuds tingling.
RED
Chateau PiqueSegue, Bergerac, 1995 (outlets as for PiqueSegue white above, usually £6.99). Terrific drinking at this price - a succulent, juicy red, bursting with ripe fruit, but it will hold your interest through to a peppery, slightly chewy finish. A great all-rounder.
Chateau Vignelaure, Coteaux d'Aix en Provence, 1995 (stockists as for Vignelaure rose above, usually £10.99). A powerfully structured, concentrated red - Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Syrah and Grenache and aged in small oak barriques. One to hide away for a while if you can.
Chateau du Seuil, Graves, 1995 (Mitchells, £14.99; also Direct Wine Shipments Belfast). Bottle of the Week for wine lovers with largesse, a gloriously smooth, rich red whose intense flavours linger just as you would wish. A seriously classy wine that's already delicious.