Virgile’s Vineyard is written by Patrick Moon, a former City lawyer, who resigned his partnership in 1997 without really knowing what he would do next. After a stint in India trying to “reinvent myself”, Patrick inherits a remote and neglected house in the Languedoc in France.

He is befriended by Virgile, a young local winemaker, who offers to teach him all the tricks of the trade. The book is the story of this journey over a year. It’s an excellent read and throws in a good deal of information about the local wines and gives you a feel for the character of the region. Although first published in 2003, the novel – a humorous pastiche of real and fictional characters has been updated and we go along to the celebrations to mark the updated edition at the Maison de la Region Languedoc-Roussillon HQ in London’s Cavendish Square.

Patrick Moon

Both Patrick and winemaker Virgile Jolly are in attendance at the event which has been kindly hosted by Naked Wines, the independent online retailer which encourages wine affecionados to become ‘angels’ by putting £20 each month into an account which gets invested into up and coming wineries.  It also entitles them to some very substantial discounts on wines.

Winemaker Virgile Jolly, Naked Wine’s Eamon FitzGerald and Patrick

Virgile’s Vineyard – a Year in the Languedoc Wine Country costs £9.99 and can be pre-ordered online at Amazon – click on the link below.