Product Description

For most people giving up the day job and moving to a beautiful area of France and living off the vines is an impossible but delicious dream. In 1990, Patricia Atkinson and her husband decided to sell up in Britain and emigrate to the Dordogne. Their idea was to buy a house with a few vines attached and employ someone to tend to the wine while they earned their living with some financial consultancy work. There followed a series of disasters: the stock market crashed leaving their small holding as their sole source of income; the first red wine harvest turned to vinegar; and Patricia's husband returned to Britain, unable to cope with the stress and never returned. Patricia Atkinson, whose only knowledge of wine up to that moment was 'that it came from a bottle' and who had not a word of French, was left to salvage their life savings form the vineyards. What follows is a remarkable story of struggle and transformation whereby her tiny 4 hectare plot has become a major estate of 21 hectares, where her Clos d'Yvigne wines have won awards and been adopted by wine merchants throughout the world and where she has been hailed as a superstar by UK wine writers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80336 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Daily Mail
remarkable...an extraordinarily affecting read

The Lady
amazing and amusing...unputdownable

Clitheroe Advertiser and Times, 3rd April, 2003
'a story which will inspire many'

Customer Reviews

Stands out from the crowd
"One woman and the creation of a vineyard". Oh no, not another book about Brits moving to France to live their dream! But this one really does stand out from the crowd -- unlike the mediocre Virgile's Vineyard, this book is definitely worth reading.

Curiously, I remember seeing Patricia Atkinson in a programme on Channel 4 in about 1993 -- one of the first programmes of that type. She and her husband had moved to Bergerac to live in a beautiful old house and grow vines. But within months the husband contracted a debilitating illness and returned to the UK, leaving Patricia on her own, struggling to cultivate four hectares of vines with no knowledge of French, wine, or how to drive a tractor. She survived, and funnily enough she reappeared on a programme on French television a few months back -- now a respected winemaker who regularly wins prizes and gets her wines into the Guide Hachette.

Not only does she make good wine, she turns out to write quite well too -- recording her fears and insecurities as she struggles along on her own. The winemaking idea had been entirely her husband's, but she is obviously someone who believes that if she has to do something she will do it well, and she discovers talents that might never have been revealed otherwise -- not only learning the numerous skills required to grow grapes and make wine, but developing the physical strength needed to drive tractors, shovel grape debris, prune vines, and heave pipes, pumps and barrels about in the winery. And as if that weren't enough, she turns out to have a remarkably well-developed palate, to the extent that after a few years she is invited to join the official tasting committee for Bergerac AOC wines.

She relates all this with a pleasing humility, and it's clear how her courage, determination and willingness to learn endeared her to her neighbours, who rallied round to help her. By the end of the book she has truly become an integral part of the small community of Gageac. Bravo to her, and eat your heart out, Peter Mayle!

Real Life Stories
I agree with one of the other readers - I could not put this book down but at the same time didn't want it to end. It is much better than other books in this same genre which tend to be a bit glib for my taste. The author shares a lot of real life stories with us and not just the pretty "up" ones. I felt like I knew the people she was writing about and was really heartbroken when one in particular died. And for her to become a vigneronne without any previous experience is amazing, I was in awe of what she has accomplished. I love this book!

one word
...inspirational.

a truly remarkable story from a truly remarkable lady. a bit of peter mayle here, a bit of tour de france there, lashings of fresh air, wine, and great company; who could ask for more? read in one day...tres magnifique!