It was baking hot when we rolled in after lunch in June. There was a 90 year-old man, complete with beret, leaning against the window ledge in the shade. Very respectfully, we said “bonjour” and asked where we would find Monsieur Gueridon. The old man gesticulated with a thumb and growled “in there”. Jean Gueridon was working flat out, bottling, when we arrived. Energetic, friendly and smiley, running here and there to show us around his cellar and looking over the vineyards across the rural, rolling green countryside of the Entre-Deux-Mers between the Gironde and Dordogne rivers. Quite the contrast to the impression his 90-something mother had given when Ben phoned to set up the meeting. “London eh? That’s a long way away. How exciting! What do you want to talk to my son for? He’s lazy.”
We all like Jean’s wines, his zingy, grassy Entre-Deux-Mers white made from 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Semillon and 5% Muscadelle and a juicy red Bordeaux Superieur, a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, punching way above its class. Our only disappointment was not to meet his mother. She had made lunch as usual and had gone for her nap.
