I had given Gardenia the book Languedoc Wines asking her to chose some of the most interesting winemakers, that is, characters in the region, especially around the great wine region of AOC Minervois La Livinière (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) .
She chose Paul Durand's place in Siran. His wine, "Paul Louis Eugene," is named after himself, his father, Louis, and his grandfather, Eugene, both of whom were winemakers before him.
Paul was asleep in his wine cave on a make shift bed when we arrived and very kindly allowed us to taste his wine even though he was obviously sleep deprived. The reason he was in the cave was because he "listens" to his wines, checking on them every couple of hours after the vendange, to catch them at just the right fermentation.
That's Paul below. Gardenia and Dwight "stole" the photos when Paul wasn't looking, as he doesn't like any type of publicity. (Try finding a website, or anything else about him online!) He especially doesn't like journalists because they "don't tell the truth." When I showed him the Languedoc book and the author photo on the back of it he said that proved his very point. He'd never met the guy and here he had written a whole section on Paul's wines.
It was a fun trip and Paul's wine's are amazing!
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