1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 358 The Important Removal Plan

This wasn't the first time Juliet had brought government officials to Ronan's restaurant.

A few months ago, she brought some of her colleagues from the Vaucluse tourist office to Ronan's restaurant.

It was that visit that prompted Blanco to follow Ronan's suggestion and designate rosé as Lourmarin's future signature wine.

When faced with the wealthy tourism bureau last time, Juliet didn't show anything unusual; she acted as if she were having dinner with a normal friend.

But this time, Juliet's condition was clearly different.

Throughout the lecture, she acted like a well-behaved student, listening attentively to her deskmate's remarks. She was also humble in her manner, and she repeatedly got up to refill their drinks and fetch them things, which had a rather ingratiating feel to it.

A thought flashed through Ronan's mind—the important person Juliet mentioned was probably far more important than the people in the tourism bureau.

"Who are they this time?" Ronan muttered to himself.

Curious about the background of the people at Juliet's table, Ronan instructed the waiter to listen to what they were talking about as he passed by.

Soon, the waiter returned with the answer.

"There were a few people at the table who weren't speaking French, but there was a translator, and they seemed to be talking about Bordeaux."

"Not French? And they're talking about Bordeaux?" Ronan asked in surprise.

This is not right.

How did Juliet end up taking over the tourism bureau's job and entertaining foreign guests?

That group of guests ate for a very long time, as if they were using Ronan's restaurant as a meeting room.

After finishing the main course, we chatted until 3 p.m. and still didn't leave.

Since the guests had been sitting for so long, Ronan asked a waiter to bring over a bottle of decent red wine and also gave everyone a complimentary dessert as a gesture of goodwill.

If Juliet hadn't been reluctant to 'recognize' Ronan, he would have wanted to pay for the meal for free.

Ronan definitely made a profit by gaining the favor of a group of high-end connections for just one thousand francs!
The guests at that table expressed their gratitude to the owner, Ronan, from afar.

Ronan keenly observed that Juliet's eyes were full of admiration when she looked at him, which further solidified his belief that these must be very important people—perhaps even the Ministry of Agriculture would try to curry favor with them.

At 4 p.m., the guests finally finished their meal, took a group photo in front of the woven fabric decorative wall that was the most beautiful feature of the restaurant, and then left together.

Ten minutes later, Juliet returned to the restaurant and greeted Ronan with a smile:
“They praised your restaurant for its unique features and delicious food, and your friendly gesture left a very good impression on them. It was a wise decision for me to bring them here from so far away. You may have helped us advance our cooperation.”

Ronan leaned against the cash register, smiling as he pointed outside:
"Who are those people?"

Juliet leaned close to Ronan's ear and whispered:

"Representative of the EEC (European Economic Community)."

Before the stunned Ronan could speak, Juliet walked to an empty table:
"Let me try 'Hope' quickly. By the way, isn't there a similar one to 'Lovebird'?"

Ronan knew that Juliet had gone to Gold to see an art exhibition, and that Mr. Llorente had run into her on the way to Gold.

Moreover, with such a commotion at Gold's place, it was impossible for it to escape the official's ears.

Ronan didn't elaborate on the themes of 'hope' and 'lovebirds,' but instead asked the waiter to fetch the best rosé wine, sat down opposite Juliet, and asked curiously:
What is the EEC doing in Luberon?

The European Economic Community (EEC) is the predecessor of the European Union, and in 1987, it was in the process of transitioning to the EU. At the current stage, the EEC's main responsibilities are to lead the common market, agricultural policy, and customs union.

It's not unusual for EEC to visit major cities like Provence. Aix-en-Provence is an important part of European art, and Marseille is France's largest port. But what's so interesting about a mountainous region like Luberon?

Juliet found a comfortable position to sit down, returning to the familiar posture Ronan was in:
"The EEC wants to push forward a new measure in France, Italy and Spain. Provence is an important area for the implementation of this measure in France, and Luberon is the key part of Provence. They want to come here to understand the situation firsthand."

Provence is a vast region, spanning several departments, and each area has its own flagship industry. However, Luberon is of paramount importance, and given Juliet's position as an official in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ronan immediately considered only two possibilities:
"Is it related to olives or grapes?"

Juliet looked at Ronan with a half-smile:
"No wonder Astrid and Ines both like you; you're really quick-witted."

In private, Juliet did not show enough respect to Astrid and Ines, but at parties she addressed them as "Lady" and "President" repeatedly.

However, this also meant that she didn't treat Ronan as an outsider, which relieved Ronan of his burden and allowed him to ask her all the questions he wanted to know.

"What exactly is it? What measures do they want to implement?"

Instead of answering the question directly, Juliet took the initiative to give Ronan a lesson: "Do you know about Old World and New World grape-growing regions?"

Ronan nodded at first, then immediately shook his head:

"I often hear it in the news and newspapers, but its conceptual meaning is not very clear."

Juliet crossed her right leg over her left and carefully explained to Ronan:

"These two terms have two layers of meaning. In terms of production regions, Old World wines mainly refer to wines produced in Europe, but also include other regions in the Mediterranean basin with a long history of winemaking, such as North Africa and the Near East, which are the birthplace of wine. New World wines mainly refer to wines produced in Japan, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile and South Africa, whose winemaking history is relatively short."

On another level, in the Old World, wine tradition and terroir play a dominant role, a style that has persisted for centuries. In the New World, however, science and the role of the winemaker are often emphasized, and wines are made to cater to the tastes of contemporary wine enthusiasts.

Ronan listened patiently, waiting for Juliet to deliver the next crucial piece of information.

“Old World wines have been greatly impacted by New World wines. The international market size is relatively fixed, but now there are distinctive wines with different flavors competing for our market share, which has led to the ‘wine lake’ phenomenon in Old World wine regions.” Juliet took a sip of rosé and continued, “The European Community is facing a serious crisis of overproduction of wine, with a large amount of low-quality wine going unsold. The EEC hopes to reduce production and improve quality in several major wine-producing countries such as France, Italy, and Spain, and to implement a ‘removal’ plan for those high-yield, low-quality grape varieties.”

"Have the farmer pull up the grapevines?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

Juliet shrugged:

"Isn't it crazy? The Bordeaux pilot program spurred several regions and sparked riots among winegrowers. Now the EEC is coming to Provence, hoping we'll cooperate with their actions."

After a brief moment of thought, Ronan pressed further:

"Did you agree?"

Juliet's expression was very unpleasant:

“Bordeaux has already tried it out, so we have to agree, but we won’t do it in regions like AOE. We’ll start with individual growers. Today we’re here to visit the Carignan and Alamon vineyards near Gourd, as these two varieties are the primary targets for ‘elimination’.”

Ronan asked urgently:

Will the "removal plan" provide compensation to farmers?

We can't just pull it out for nothing, can we?
The waiter placed the 'hope' in front of Juliet, and the official looked at it with surprise for a few seconds before replying:
"There will be compensation, but not much. The EEC will not provide funds, and the Ministry of Agriculture cannot allocate a large budget to implement this."

"How much?" Ronan continued to ask.

Juliet had visited Ronan's home and knew he owned several acres of land, which he grew grapes. Seeing his interest, she very 'honestly' explained to Ronan the hidden meaning behind this action:
"Priced according to quality and vine age, the compensation is 8000-12000 francs per hectare. However, no matter how much compensation is given, it's difficult to satisfy the grape growers. The EEC hopes to reduce the area of ​​vineyards to address the core issue. Therefore, the compensation terms of the uprooting plan stipulate that grape growers cannot grow grapes for a long period of time and must switch to other crops, such as olives, lavender, or others. But in wine regions like Provence, growing grapes is the most profitable. Why do you think the grape growers in Bordeaux would riot?"

Seeing how candid Juliet's answer was, Ronan also shared his thoughts:

"But the situation in Provence is different from that in Bordeaux. Bordeaux did not experience a cold wave, as you should know. The cold wave in January had a huge impact on the vineyards of Luberon."

This cold wave will kill or damage at least 40% of the grapevines.

Those vines will be cleared away sooner or later. If the province of Vaucluse can provide some compensation, and the Lourmaran government can provide some more, it wouldn't be unacceptable.

Juliet shook her head:
"The return cycle for converting land to olive or other crops after uprooting vines is very long. In particular, we will not touch grapes in AOE production areas, so the areas where the policy is implemented will definitely be small farmers. How do you think they can find other livelihoods in such remote places? And stable livelihoods at that? Farmers' incomes will definitely plummet within a few years. Especially for many people who have farmed for generations, suddenly making them leave the land is useless no matter how much reasoning is given."

It might not work in other remote areas, but it's not impossible in Lourmaran.

If Ronan were to take over a winery, he would need to find people to help him.

He had heard Jerome say at a party that Stellar Winery had 15 workers, but he was making wine by machine, while Ronan was going to make wine by hand, and the workforce would continue to increase.

Certainly not all farmers will give up farming. The wineries will absorb some of the manpower, and the influx of art shops will consume some more. This will also solve another problem that is giving Ronan a headache—how to get the local villagers and the artist community to coexist harmoniously.

Farmers won't listen to the government's reasoning, but they will listen to Ronan's words. As long as they know that their income will not decrease but will increase, they won't get stuck on trivial matters.

What farmer in Lourmaran wouldn't want to make money alongside Ronan?

Similarly, Ronan and Zoe held leadership positions within the artist community, and they would listen to Ronan's advice.

However, there is one problem with the 'removal plan' that cannot be ignored.

There aren't many varieties of grapes suitable for making rosé wine in the vineyards near Lourmarin to begin with, and if some are pulled up, there will be even fewer. Moreover, other grape varieties cannot be planted for a while, so will we have to go to other villages to harvest grapes in the future?
"If we accept the subsidy for the 'Elimination Plan,' does that mean we can't grow any kind of grape?" Ronan asked, still unwilling to give up.

We'd been chatting the whole time, and Juliet hadn't even had a chance to eat the 'hope' she'd been longing for. She took a small piece, and without even looking up, said:
"Forget about the traditional local varieties. You can plant foreign varieties, such as those used in winemaking in the 'New World wine regions,' but what's the point of planting those? Traditional Provençal wineries won't use them."

Before she could even put the dessert in her mouth, she heard Ronan across from her ask excitedly:
"Have you considered implementing an 'uprooting plan' in Lourmaran?"

(End of this chapter)