"The spider and the fly, Don't know the reason why, But they each have a role to play..." (from 'Mortal Coil')

After having written about Philippe de Mouchy, I wondered if I couldn't say a few nice things about those who have influenced me in this business who are still alive. We are so lucky to have worked with such great people in that "golden age". Two people with whom I am very grateful to have had the chance to work are Bertrand Bouteiller and Bernard de Laage of Château Palmer. In early meetings with Bertrand, I was impressed by several qualities, but two main ones come to mind: humility and respect. Bertrand always listened to what you said and while he was not afraid to express his opinions and ideas, he wasn't someone who had to be right all the time. Being one of the owners of Palmer, he was able to generously allow us to have amazing working lunches at the Château most times we were there, with then winemaker Philippe Delfaut (now at Kirwan). To tell the whole truth, every person we met at Palmer at that time treated us as friends or guests, rather than consultants. Hats off to all of them, we had a lot of fun hearing about their part in the making of Palmer. Martine, Michel, Jacques, Céline, Chantale, Nicolas, Damien and others whose names escape me at this writing were without exception kind, patient and generous with their time. We were lucky enough to participate in many events with the entire Palmer team at the time.

We learned a lot about wine and Bordeaux over a glass of Champagne during the little apéritif in the salon, before going into the dining room. At those "working lunches", we would usually have three wines in decanters and we everone around the table had to try to guess what we were drinking. The food was basic, but always delicious and served with much geniality. What made these moments memorable though, was the company. At the table between work sessions, enjoying food, wine and conversation with Bertrand, Bernard, Philippe, and Claire, about wine but also many other things made that time (2001 to about 2004) one of the most stimulating and pleasant of my career. Anecdote: once, a young woman from the computer maintenance subcontractor joined us. When Bertrand held the carafe of wine over her glass, she said "No thank you, I only drink white". This same person had said earlier that there was no reason to update the virus definitions more than once a month.

For the most part, our working time was spent in meetings with Bernard and Claire, brainstorming, talking strategy, but also often digressing into all kinds of things. I recall the first time I met Bernard, in Paris. I somehow had the nerve to tell him, "We're the people you need!" and he somehow believed me. Bernard is an amazing guy in many ways, but in particular, his unlimited energy and his openness to new ideas come to mind. Also unforgettable, the day we went down for a meeting to Palmer, September 12th, 2001. The simple expression of sympathy we received from Bernard and the rest of the team was moving and sincere.

Since we moved to Bordeaux, we're privileged to continue to have the chance to break bread or dink a glass with our friends.