From the UK to a Bordeaux Vineyard Q&A - Part 2

After the Château DIY questions, quite a few of you wanted to know more about the journey that brought us here in the first place. Where were we before France? How seriously did we actually think about this before doing it? What do we know now that we didn't then? These are the ones we get asked most often, so here are our answers.

What were you both doing before Château Méaume? Give us the picture of life before France.

Sandra and I met when we were both working in Beijing, China. After getting married we lived in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, before moving to Switzerland for a brief assignment then New York and then back to Switzerland. We had a classic expat life, packed with extraordinary experiences and fascinating cultures. We threw ourselves into every country we lived in, making the most of wherever we happened to find ourselves.

 When did the idea of buying a property in France become a serious conversation rather than a daydream?

My connection with Château Méaume actually goes back to when I first visited the estate as a child in the late 1970s and remember being completely captivated by the vines, the château and the whole atmosphere of the place. It lodged itself somewhere in my imagination.

Fast forward thirty years, and Sandra and I found ourselves living in Indonesia, beginning to think seriously about what we would do after being expats. The idea of a vineyard kept surfacing and rather than dismiss it we decided to explore it properly. We spent a holiday working on a vineyard in Tuscany, getting our hands dirty and our eyes open to the realities of what vineyard life actually involves, the hard work and complexity of running a vineyard.

That experience taught us that we could do it. So we started actively planning how to buy a vineyard in Bordeaux.

What was it about Château Méaume specifically that made you say yes to this one?

We were looking at a vineyard in a different part of Bordeaux, when I found out that my uncle was selling Château Méaume. I felt an attachment to Château Méaume going back to when I first visited the estate many years ago. So I thought that I would ask if he was interested in selling to me. After some months of discussions and negotiations we reached an agreement, the most important part being the timing as we needed time to plan our move.

What did you know about wine and viticulture when you arrived in 2019? Be honest.

Nothing. we read lots of books, watched lots of documentaries, tv shows and films and we even spent a holiday working on a vineyard in Italy. None of that prepared us for the shock reality of running a vineyard. We had to learn fast and learn by doing.

What has surprised you most about life on a working vineyard, something you genuinely didn't expect?

What surprised us the most was how deeply personal the wine becomes. Before we arrived at Château Méaume, wine was something we enjoyed to drink and sharing with friends. What we did not anticipate was how emotionally invested you become in every single vintage. Each bottle represents an entire year of work, worry, hope and patience. The second surprise was the vulnerability of it all. It is important to remember that mother nature is completely indifferent to your efforts, and learning to accept and work with that requires a resilience that nobody warns you about beforehand.

What's the hardest thing nobody warns you about when you make a move like this?

The hardest part of such a move, which no one talks about or you read in books, is the dynamic stress it can put on your marriage. For twenty years we had been husband and wife, managing a career, bringing up children. Then overnight we were business partners. Each has their own ideas and views on what should be done everyday. You need to work out the common ground, who does what and how decisions can be made. There is nothing wrong with arguments (we prefer to call them “creative friction”) as you both want the best for the estate, it is just that you both may have different ways to do it. Open communication, trust and respect will always help you to find a way forward.

What does a typical week look like for you now? (We want people to understand the real rhythm of life here, not just the highlight reel.)

The seasons and the vineyard set the broad rhythm so a week can go in many directions. There are wines to manage in the chai, there are guests arriving, a meeting with our viticulturalist and a mountain of French administrative paperwork and then the gardening. If something needs doing, one of us does it.

The evenings are usually quieter, it gives us time to catch-up and spend some time together.

It is exhausting, it is varied and it is never boring.

For someone sitting at home watching the episode thinking "I want to do what they've done", what's the one honest thing you'd say to them?

Do it but do it with your eyes wide open. The dream is real. The sunsets over the vines are exactly as beautiful as you imagine. The wine is exactly as rewarding to make as you hope. The lifestyle is everything the television show suggests and more.

But here is what the camera does not always capture; it is hard. Relentlessly, wonderfully, occasionally very hard. There will be moments when the paperwork defeats you, when the weather betrays you, when the costs dumbfound you. And then you marvel at the setting sun over the vineyard, and you remember exactly why you did it.

So our one honest piece of advice would be do not over romanticise it. Go in with a realistic business plan, a genuine tolerance for uncertainty and a partner who is as committed as you are. Because the life on the other side of that leap is genuinely extraordinary.

If anything here has sparked your curiosity, come and visit. Stay a few days, walk the vines and see what this life actually looks and feels like. We would love to have you.