A good vintage

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A good year (original title: A Good Year ) is a novel by the English writer Peter Mayle , which was published in 2004 by Alfred Knopf, New York , and in the same year in a German translation by Ursula Bischoff by Karl Blessing Verlag , Munich.

action

The London finance manager Max Skinner has major problems: He loves his job, but his colleagues and especially his supervisor Amis at Lawton Brothers hate him. In addition, he has lived beyond his means in the previous years and urgently needs the bonus that has actually been developed and expected for the current project. But at a work lunch he is literally ripped off by the Americans, as his boss coaxes the necessary details about the deal from him, pulls the project on him and thereby provokes him to quit. Since Max Skinner is therefore not entitled to a severance payment , he finds himself in a multiple dilemma due to the expensive apartment and the already accumulated debts, as the London financial world is small.

But the sad news that his in Provence living Uncle Henry has died and he to the reading of the will have to go to St. Pons in the Provence, directs his thinking in a different direction. In conversation with his best friend and ex-brother-in-law Charles Charlie Willis , a well-off real estate manager , a silver lining emerges on the horizon. On the one hand, Charlie advances him a not inconsiderable amount of money in order to be able to tackle the trip at all and to calm down his creditors for the time being , and on the other hand the real estate agent paints him the old manor house with 20 hectares of land, furniture and vineyards Eliminate financial worries: “Rent out your property or keep it for times of need, but don't part with it. And besides, with a wine-growing area of ​​twenty hectares you should actually be in a position to make a pretty good living. "

When Willis - inspired by a recently completed wine tasting seminar - orders a special wine to celebrate the day, it dawns on Skinner that he could venture into unimagined dimensions when it comes to wine: It is a special Bordeaux , Château Léoville-Barton , 1982 vintage which costs £ 380 a bottle in the pub.

In spite of all the optimism, Max feels sentimental. During his childhood, his now divorced parents had regularly let him live with his jovial uncle in France during the boarding holidays , who taught him the national language, tennis, savoir-vivre and a number of life wisdoms that made him a man to a large extent who he seems to be today. Above all, however, he gave credit to his uncle for never turning out the adult figure of authority over him. But he also doubts whether he has not idealized too much in nostalgic retrospect. Nevertheless, he enthusiastically sets off for a break of six months, during which he wants to find out whether this legacy will be worthwhile for him.

Topographic map of the Luberon

St. Pons is actually on the “wrong”, i.e. southern, side of the Luberon and “unlike the other small villages - Gordes , Ménerbes , Bonnieux , Roussillon , Lacoste - cannot claim to be a 'village perché', because it did not stick to the top of a steep slope like an eagle's nest, but was built on the plain ”. Nevertheless, the inevitable avenue of plane trees lines the entrance to the town. Max feels right at home on his return to France.

To his pleasant surprise, the notary Maître Auzet turns out to be an attractive lady who tackles his inheritance matters professionally and effectively. She doesn't even seem to be averse to his obvious advances.

Not everything about his estate is positively noticeable: "Le Grifon" is not exactly shabby, but could definitely use one or the other modernization, the electrical and other installations correspond to the clichéd understanding of French improvisation and the entire house is crammed with old ones Plunder for which even the antique markets in the area would not be worthwhile. The old steward of the estate, Claude Roussel , doesn't seem happy about the nephew's return. Should he have expected a share of the inheritance himself? Although he has by and large taken good care of the vines, as is generally accepted, the wine produced tastes like “cat piss” in the opinion of a waiter.

Charlie therefore advises him to consult an oenologist , whom Nathalie Auzet willingly suggests. But both the following expertise and the further behavior of Roussel make Max Skinner suspicious. He is supported by the beautiful landlady Fanny Chenal of the local restaurant "Chez Fanny". When both discover that Roussel is wealthy and carefully harass him a little, he unpacks and shows them a larger field of rather timid vines on supposedly barren soil, which, however, produce the best quality. Here he had tried something new with his own money that old Henry Skinner could not muster, and produced a wine that, when mixed with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, results in what is known as a " garage wine ". Overseas investors are paying staggering sums of over $ 5,000 per bottle for these small-volume wines . Without his uncle's knowledge and in the hope of one day being able to share it with him, Roussel had so far done his part in the fray, which the bustling Auzet had primarily organized with the help of the oenologist. As if that wasn't enough, the young American Christie Roberts appears surprisingly , who actually turns out to be Henry's illegitimate daughter, but, contrary to Max's fears, did not keep an eye on the inheritance, but went on a self-discovery trip after a failed relationship is located.

While everyone looks for ways to set a trap for Auzet and her accomplices, Charlie joins the group, with whom Christie falls in love surprisingly quickly. The trap against wine windows seems to work in Bordeaux at first, but they did not count on Auzet's slyness, which distracts from himself with a clever trick .

In the end, the criminals did not get their just punishment, but on the other hand, thanks to the now officially recognized drop as equal partners, Max and Roussel manage to give “Le Grifon” a new shine. Ironically rumored Mayle doing an allegedly wiretapped conversation of North American tourists by Max to the megalomania of US wine experts like Robert Parker and the Brothers Mondavi to caricature in which the wine business starts only at $ 50 per bottle:

"Hey, that's great. [...] Tastes like Bourdeaux. But I bet it also includes Cabernet. [...] What are they actually imagining, these French? Thirty mice a bottle! "

In the end, the couples found each other: Christie and Charlie as well as Fanny and Max are happy together. And even Madame Passepartout , Skinner's housekeeper, seems to have successfully pushed her long-time friend Maurice into the proverbial corner.

background

Lourmarin and the Luberon from the south

A parish called St. Pons does not exist in the Luberon. The place and the surrounding area rather have features of the area around Lourmarin , in which the author, like many other wealthy foreigners, has now settled. A farm with the name "Grifon", however, is located on the northern side of the Luberon 12 km east of Apt , just behind the municipality of Céreste . There is also one of the longest avenues of plane trees in the area, which may have inspired the author to describe it. What is striking in the book, however, is the fact that Mayle does not mention a single word about the visit to the uncle's grave.

expenditure

review

"In his inimitable humorous way, Peter Mayle whisks you away to a region that he knows like no other."

“An author with a passion for language and biting, rarely evil ridicule creates a dazzling and lovable atmosphere. The only bitter aftertaste that remains is that you want to stay in Provence and with the protagonists that have become dear to you . A homage to wine, packaged in a book that you read far too quickly. "

reception

Audio book

  • Peter Mayle: A good year . Read by Hubertus Gertzen, 2004, 6 CDs, 402 min.

filming

Like Mayle, director Ridley Scott , who like Mayle often stays in Provence, shot a film based on this novel in 2006 under the name " A Good Year " with Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard in the leading roles. However, the plot and meaning of the characters differ in some points. For example, at the beginning of the film , the love interest is pushed more clearly into the foreground, as Max gets to know Fanny in a deliberately funny way when he arrives in the form of a collision and not only as the host of the best local pub. Like the actual cheating story, Charlie takes a back seat, while Christie's role gets more space. The most obvious difference is that the winery is called La Siroque there .

Mayle himself was satisfied with the interpretation of his friend Scott. Even if the general scenario was not as described in the book, it is a romantic comedy in his sense.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Mayle: A good year. Goldmann TB, 2nd edition Munich 2006, p. 41.
  2. ↑ Peter Mayle: A good year. Goldmann TB, 2nd edition Munich 2006, p. 51.
  3. ↑ Peter Mayle: A good year. Goldmann TB, 2nd edition Munich 2006, p. 76.
  4. ↑ Peter Mayle: A good year. Goldmann TB, 2nd edition Munich 2006, p. 284.
  5. ↑ achilles-journal.de ( Memento from May 22, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Ralph Saxe: Book review: A good year (PDF file; 930 kB). In: Weinpresse, No. 19, 2004, p. 7.
  7. ^ Peter Mayle: 20 years in Provence . In: The Connexion. France's English-Language Newspaper . December 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2011.