Second novel for a French winegrower turned author

ric Remus has a weak spot for Bordeaux. He ran Château Edmus from 2007 through to its sale in 2019. More recently, he has put pen to paper again, resurrecting Victor Soubéran, the young globetrotting sommelier who was the hero of his first novel, Irouléguy Mon Amour. Victor Soubéran has travelled to Bordeaux to help Audrey – the heir to the prestigious Château Phoebus in Saint-Emilion – with whom he has a romance. Victor finally enjoys a peaceful life and is surprised to find he has started dreaming of the future. Over the torrid summer, however, a strange rumour undermines the chateau’s reputation. The novel, which has just been published by Persée, is aptly named ‘L’Etrange Rumeur’.

Soubéran is accused of having illegally irrigated the vineyards. “Perhaps if the weather had changed, the whispered insinuations may have died away as everyone prepared for the harvest season. But for another week, the sky stayed hopelessly blue, allowing the bile to rise as the sun shone down relentlessly. Only the sardonic jeering of the anonymous hyenas could be heard now and again”. Soubéran would soon discover the person behind the slander and protect the fragile personal and professional construction he had started to build.

Fascinated by the interest aroused by wine among a broad-ranging audience, Remus immerses his readers in winery life. Throughout the seasons, he introduces them to the anguish felt by winegrowers faced with the vagaries of the weather, their pride in a successful vintage and the satisfaction they feel when they sign new sales deals.