More Andrea Calek: A day in the Ardeche

Calek has vagabondism in his blood. He came to France as runaway from the Czech army in the late 80's. He wanted to stay but his mother reported him as a bum, and he had to go back east. Thanks mom. When he did return to France, he found wine. Even after listening to my tapes I cannot find the point of entry, but along the way there was a very prime person, Petit Max--Max Breton, one of the Gang of Four in Morgon--which means Chauvet and Neauport. All roads lead to them. The Calek vines are right outside the village of Valvigneres are his vines, bought (about 5 hectares) from Le Mazel's Gerald Oustric. We walked through them as he disparaged a parcel of merlot soon to be grafted over to viognier. A short ride over to a barn in back of a bronzed, bikini-ed body near a pool, we walked through his fiberglass tanks, and talked carbonic maceration, and that he makes about twenty five wines, most of which he does merely for experiment, and then we were onto his Grande Arnaque, the big joke, a fat and slutty syrah he calls une belle pute..(beautiful whore) and then onto Gerald's winery where he and beautiful wolfhound, another belle pute hold court. live in beauty and peace. With me still? (check back running to conference--more on wines you don't see in the US and his philosophy of natural wine--and really--who the hell cares what you call it. Will people stop bickering about the word?)