Vendanges
in Bordeaux
Picking with
a Purpose
By Leah Walker
M
y alarm shakes me from my
sleep, and from my kingsize bed at Hôtel Fouquet’s
Barrière, I see the darkened
Eiffel Tower. The hundreds
of Justin Bieber fans who clogged
Fouquet’s entrance and the Avenue
George V the day before have
disappeared. At 5:30 a.m., Paris
is still in a slumber. Haussmann
buildings are dark and streets are
essentially deserted. Early morning
in Paris is special, and something
I don’t see nearly enough.
The halls at Gare Montparnasse are
all but empty, a far cry from the
madness that will ensue in a few
hours. Coffee and croissant lines
move quickly and announcements
can actually be heard. A small
crowd gathers around the massive
departure board waiting for tracks
to be announced. I scan the board
for train #8461 to Bordeaux. It’s
harvest season, and I’m going to the
famed French wine country, along
with employees of Hôtel Fouquet’s
Barrière, for vendanges.
Not just about Merlot and Malbec,
this three-day trip has a mission.
Fouquet’s has created a charitable
sustainability development project,
along with Marie-Laure Lurton, the
owner of three châteaux in the
Médoc area of Bordeaux: Château
La Tour de Bessan in the Margaux
Appellation, Château de Villegeorge
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