An Aussie Winemaker in France
Filed in archive Australian Wines by tammy on March 13, 2007

This is a funny tale from Pitched battles:
IN THE town of Bourre in the Loire
Valley, I suspect the inhabitants, at least the winemaking ones, have a special place in their hearts for the Scottish-born London hotelier David Levin.That this special place might also be reserved for tax collectors and wine inspectors shouldn't surprise anyone who has heard the Levin story, including the 60-something, bespectacled, erudite man at the centre of all of the action.
By his own account, he is a "black-and-white" kind of guy.
There is a right way, a wrong way and no shade of grey. Which helps explains why Levin plonked an entire Australian winery, complete with an Australian-trained French winemaker, among his neighbours of Bourre in 2003.
Actually the town's winegrowers, members of the local co-operative winery, would have had an inkling something was afoot. There had been words, apparently quite a few, between them and Levin over the years since his purchase of a Bourre vineyard in 1985.
All Levin wanted to do was make good sauvignon blanc, one of the great whites of the Touraine region of the Loire Valley. All the co-op members wanted was to make it according to tradition. Later, when he visited three local builders with his plans to construct a winery, they too wanted to do it their way.
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Mr Wong
