1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 264 Unexpected News

In Provence, truffles must be traded in cash.

This has absolutely nothing to do with taxes.

Alphonse said that the smell of truffles mixed with the banknotes tasted better when spent.

This very unique truffle broker left Ronan a large stack of 500 francs and left in a hurry without even saying goodbye.

Ronan guessed that he was in a hurry to send Truffle to the plane.

If he were in the village of Mena, Ronan would definitely be worried with more than 6 francs in his pocket, fearing that someone would covet the money.

But at the Carpentras truffle market, his tens of thousands of francs are really nothing.

There are so many great truffle hunters in Provence.

Every stall around Ronan was conducting large-scale truffle transactions worth tens of thousands at any given time.

Apart from that one top-grade truffle, Ronan's morning could be described as mediocre. There was nothing else outstanding, and there weren't enough truffles.

This trip to the Carpentras Truffle Market really broadened Ronan's horizons.

He learned about the important profession of truffle broker, gained a concrete understanding of the scale of the Provence truffle market, and became more determined to do truffle business.

Again, truffles are the most profitable business in Provence, no doubt about it.

This will definitely be the direction that Ronan will continue to explore in the future.

After seeing the "truffle mountain" brought by these outstanding truffle hunters, Ronan's desire to raise a truffle hunting dog became more urgent.

He is now acting as a 'truffle dog'. If there is one more real truffle dog, the number of truffles on the stall may be doubled.

Only then will he be truly qualified to join the ranks of excellent truffle hunters.

He does have some fame now, and many people at the market will nod when they see him, but that is all false, just good luck, and he must not be complacent about it.

"Keep working hard. The harder you work, the luckier you will be." Ronan encouraged himself in his heart while packing up his stall.

The Carpentras truffle market lasts all day, but after noon Ronan has nothing to sell.

Jacques had almost finished his shopping, and the two of them left the Place Theodore Briand together.

"Let's find a place to eat nearby?" Jacques took the initiative to invite Ronan.

It took more than two hours to drive from Carpentras to Lourmarin, and Ronan was already hungry, so he readily agreed.

Jacques took Ronan to a restaurant he had been to several times and ordered several truffle-related dishes, including black truffle fries, black truffle pasta, and black truffle pizza.

Ronan thought Jacques would talk to him about truffles at the dinner table. After all, they had been talking about truffles all day, even eating lunch without avoiding the "black gold". Unexpectedly, Jacques brought up a topic that Ronan had not expected:
"Jerome is planning to close the winery."

Ronan coughed violently, and pink liquid dripped through his fingers:

"why?"

All the rosé wine sold in Ronan's restaurant is produced by the Strassgaard Winery, and this is also the brand he usually drinks.

When he called Jerome to place the order in late November, he also asked him how he was doing.

Jerome said he was going to Madrid for Christmas at the end of December, which didn't sound like there would be any problem at that time.

Jacques sighed:

"Jerome's winery has not been doing well, and he wanted to close it a long time ago. In fact, it's not just him. All the pink wineries in Provence are doing badly. Ines has been encouraging him, and the people in the association are trying their best to help him, including you and me, but it's still very difficult."

Mr. Jacques's restaurant and Ronan's restaurant are two important local customers of Jerome Winery.

One of them forces rosé wine to be served as an aperitif, while the other has a bunch of artists who drink rosé wine, and they can consume in a week the amount of rosé wine that other restaurants would consume in more than a month.

"Are you sure you want to turn it off?" Ronan asked with a frown.

Jacques pursed his lips, as if he had encountered a very tangled problem.

After several seconds, he finally spoke to Ronan:
"He has probably made up his mind, but he won't close it right away. He will wait a few months to finish the orders on hand. But he has already informed Ines. You know, he actually initiated the association, so Jerome felt it necessary to let Ines know about it first."

Ronan nodded in understanding.

The Vaucluse Pink Wine Lovers' Association was a group of upper-class people organized by Jerome in order to expand his customer base, and it later gradually developed into an official organization.

Jacques continued:

"Château Stesgar is the largest rosé winery in Vaucluse. Ines feels that its closure will be a huge blow to the association and the rosé wine ecosystem in Vaucluse, so he has been encouraging him to persevere. However, this time Jerome has made up his mind, and Ines also expressed his respect and blessing, but at the same time he wants to keep the winery, so—"

Jacques' tone became tangled again. He knocked the table lightly with his fist, forcing himself to be "brave":
"Ines wants to try to get Astrid to take over the Strasga Winery. She is the most suitable person in the association and the only one who has the ability to do so. Can you help find out Astrid's attitude? I just need to get some useful information. If Astrid is not opposed to it, Ines will push this matter forward."

After saying this, Jacques let out a long sigh.

If he had not met Ronan in Carpentras, he would have found an opportunity to go to Lourmarin in the near future, because this was the task assigned to him by Ines.

Those who are officials in the association are officials, those who run restaurants open restaurants, and those who are editors-in-chief are editors-in-chief. The only one who can take over the Strasga Winery is Astrid, the hidden boss.

Ines certainly wanted to make this happen, but it would be too formal for her to talk to Astrid, especially since Astrid had such a strange temper. It was too difficult to find the right balance. So he arranged for Jacques, who was more familiar with Ronan, to help Ronan get the ball rolling.

Astrid once took the initiative to help promote Ronan's restaurant. Her attitude towards Ronan is different from that towards other members of the association. Perhaps Ronan can get useful information more easily.

Jacques felt that this matter was a little outrageous and difficult to talk about, but he had no choice but to accept it.

But he had already made up his mind that if Ronan refused, he would explain it to Ines.

This matter obviously has nothing to do with Ronan.

Unexpectedly, Ronan didn't even think about it and replied directly:

"You don't have to ask Astrid to tell you that it's almost impossible."

This time it was Jacques' turn to spray pink wine. He looked at Ronan with strange eyes.

Didn't you say you didn't know Astrid well?

You know her answer without asking? ?

Ronan asked Astrid a similar question.

Astrid's answer was to ask him to learn about the history of agricultural and industrial development in Provence.

In fact, Ronan doesn't need to understand the complicated history to guess most of it.

Wine and perfume are both pillar industries of Provence, and both rely on crop cultivation. There must have been frictions such as competition for land, resources and labor in their centuries-long history.

The family behind Astrid, which has been in existence for hundreds of years, does not want to touch anything related to wine, and may even secretly hope that this industry will decline.

But Ronan couldn't explain this reason directly to Jacques.

He was afraid that if he told her, Jacques and Ines would guess what Astrid was doing in business.
Judging from the information we have so far, no one in the association seems to know this news, so it would not be appropriate for Ronan to disclose it.

Ronan could only explain the reason with the vaguest possible reason:

"To be honest, I asked Astrid a similar question, and she didn't want to do the pink wine business."

You guys really are in contact privately. Jacques didn't remember them talking about similar issues at the party.

But no matter what the process was, Jacques finally completed the task and could report to Ines.

After lunch, Jacques and Ronan parted ways in Carpentras.

Before leaving, Jacques invited Ronan to visit his restaurant recently to try his signature king cake.

This was the second time that Jacques mentioned his specialty king cake to Ronan, so Ronan readily accepted it and said that he would definitely find time to try it before January.

Jacques returned to Bonnieux from Carpentras and immediately replied to Ines.

"Ronan said Astrid will not take over the Strasgaard winery."

Jacques called Ines' office. The fashion industry's "female devil" turned her eyes away from the latest issue of the magazine and asked with a frown:
"Did Ronan describe Astrid's tone and demeanor when she said no?"

Women understand women best, and perhaps Ronan did not fully understand what Astrid meant.

Jacques sighed:

"In fact, Ronan didn't ask Astrid. He said he asked a similar question and Astrid refused."

"Did they talk in private?" Ines was very surprised.

One was that it was unexpected that Ronan and Astrid had talked about such an important issue.

The second was that I was surprised that Astrid gave such a clear response.

She just wanted Ronan to test his attitude, but she didn't expect to get the answer directly.

You have to know that it is extremely difficult for other members of the association to hear a clear response from this lady who only knows how to drink. A perfunctory response is still considered good, and ignoring her has happened before.

The relationship between these two people is indeed not simple.

Jacques confirmed:
"Yes, they talked about it privately. Although I don't know what Astrid's expression was at the time, Ronan's expression was quite serious when he answered. It seems that there is really not much hope."

Ines spun her chair:
"Okay, I got it, thank you Jacques."

After hanging up the phone, Ines stood in front of the French window with a lot of thoughts in his mind.

Once Château Stesgar closes, the rosé wine industry in Vaucluse will become even more difficult, and they won't even be able to find a delicious rosé wine to serve as a substitute.

Then how ridiculous and absurd would the existence of this fan association be.

Are they going to drink unpalatable pink wine and pretend they love it?
But the only people in the Vaucluse province who can keep Château Stesgarve open are these few people in the association. Those outside have no chance of taking over the business.

After Jerome sells the rosé wine made from this year's grapes, he will close the winery and move to Madrid to retire.

What to do after that?

(End of this chapter)