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 BARON
PIERRE LE ROY DE BOISEAUMARIE
"The third
man"
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Winston
CHURCHILL once calling to mind the important
role played by Hurricanes and Spitfires in
preventing the German airforce during summer
1940 to launch massif attacks against England
, raised the fact that never in history did
a handful of men save the lives of so many
; he was referring to the R.A.F. pilots.
This remark, parodied, applies exactly to
the hundreds of thousand French winegrowers
who were led out of their everlasting obscurantism
to prosperity , thanks to the innovating steps
taken by three great reformers of our viticulture
:
 Senator
Joseph Capus, originally from Provence
but "adopted" by the Girondins,
Edouard
Barthe, Députy from the South,
et
le Baron Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarie.
a first World War hero and a fighter
aircraft pilot. |
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How
did this cream of the crop , after the war
and at the end of his troubling peregrinations
settle at Chateauneuf du Pape ?
There was no special reason for him to take
on the role that destiny reserved for him.
Born on the 5th of April 1890, a native of
Normandy at Mortagne , Baron Pierre Le Roy
lived at his land-owning family property.
Born to a family dedicated to State service
,
(founding members participated in Crusades)
his future seemed pre-set : a soldier like
his father , a Prefect or a State councillor.(
Note that there was another Pierre Le Roy
, an architect who had built the Spire arrow
of the Mount Saint Michel). . |
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It
happened that at the beginning of the century
(during the period of the separation of State
and Church), there was a conflict between
the head of the Le Roy family an Officer of
Cavalry and the Petit Père Combe, President
of Council. He resigned, swearing that no
descendant of his would serve neither the
Army nor the State. Obliged to change career,
he settled in Vendargues (Hérault)
to be the director of a wine-estate. Pierre
Le Roy chose to become a lawyer.
In May 1907 during the uprisings of winegrowers
from the South led by Marcellin Albert , he
brought attention to himself through his active
participation. With law enforcement agents
behind the walls of the Judicial Court of
Montpellier ready to charge , he nevertheless
set fire to its doors. From now on Pierre
Le Roy makes a mark in the history of this
near revolution . |
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In
1914 , having newly obtained his Bachelor
of science degree and his Masters in Law he
was forced to join the Army (army rejected
by his family). Drafted as a simple cavalryman
Pierre Le Roy is decorated with Military medal.
In 1916 he asked to change service. Posted
to the Air Force , he will in a few months,
near Guyenmer, shoot down twelve enemy planes
, only seven being recorded. He was shot down
twice and seriously injured. He was awarded
the Military Cross with several citings and
also made the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
He returned to Vendargues at the end of the
war and then to Chateauneuf du Pape where
in 1919 married Melle Bernard Le Saint who
owned one of the most prestigious estates
of Chateuneuf : Chateau FORTIA. He decided
to give up Law and dedicate himself to viticulture.
Without it being obvious , this profession
had just hit a jackpot. |
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Chateauneuf
du Pape was going through a critical period
during this time.
A result of serious difficulties suffered
by the profession : frauds of all types ,
dubious sales , a general slump of business
etc added on to the existing problems generated
by the plant lice phylloxera which appeared
for the first time in France in the region
Cotes du Rhone.
The state alerted by the 1907 "tremor"
put in force a legislation to save the situation
.Certain laws voted in 1905 , 1908 , 1919
helped to accomplish a significant but were
still far away from being the solution. |
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No
improvement in the above mentioned problems,
on the contrary. The introduction of fraudulent
grapes which allow the production of fake
Chateauneuf wines to be sold at very low prices
while the real grapes stays in the cellars
; winegrowers who are obliged to sell their
wines of superior quality at on going low
prices (one has to live....) , these conditions
created an unbearable and explosive atmosphere.
Among these buyers were people from an important
winegrowing region who considered Chateauneuf
as a dependency of their province.One of them
had the following dialogue with Madame Bernard
Le Saint the mother of Madame Le Roy :
- You (Chateauneuf
du Pape) have become our dependency ...
- You are wrong
mister , she retorted. We are the parent establishment
! |
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1923
, misery reigns. Things got to a point where
the winegrowers , led by Mr Paul AVRIL a descendant
of one of the oldest families of Chateauneuf
, marched to Chateau Fortia to ask Baron
Le Roy ( lawyer and winegrower ) to take their
destiny in his hands. Among them , the
winegrowing aristocrats of the village : Allemand
, Armenier , Arnaud , Bruriel , Eyffon , Jauffron
, Marchand , Platin , Sabon , Tacussel and
others. |
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Touched
by the action of his winegrowing friends ,
he asks for time think and at this time he
examines the laws and the jurisprudence. A
legal disposition of 1919 gives the Syndicates
a certain amount of possibilities.
He accepts their proposal upon condition :
"I
would like to on condition that you are the
first to give the example of honesty and discipline...'',
he explains his ideas , totally revolutionary
for the period. They were accepted. |
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Here
begins the founding of the syndicate
and the adoption of his ideas by the General
Assembly. In 1924 , begins the assignment
of the legal limits based on absolutely new
principles.
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The
limits of the production area
will be based on the type of soil and
on usage, therefore eliminating a part
of Chateauneuf. |
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The
grape-varieties , all of them
, quality grape-varieties will be strictly
enumerated. |
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The
method of cultivation will be
strictly regulated. |
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Percentage
of alcohol will be fixed ( 12°5).. |
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Compulsory
sorting during the harvest ; at
least 5% of the harvest excluded. |
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The
rate of volatile acidity authorized
will be lowered , vinification in the
form of "rosé"
banned, deteriorated wines will lose
their right to be part of the appellation. |
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The
Syndicate of Chateauneuf was a precursor
, it was the "controlled appellation"
before the laws were officially passed ten
years later , all of its principles entered
the legislation passed by the National Commitee
without modification. It can be said that
this Syndicate was the promoter of the obligation
to respect all the factors that assure quality.
If it was not the inventor of the presently
adopted term "controlled appellation"
, the Chateauneuf du Pape Syndicate was
surely the inventor of the regulations. |
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The
role played by Baron Le Roy in the implementation
of the said regulations were not without consequences
: his wine was boycotted and, for a period
of four years , he sold not a liter of wine.
He ,as well as the winegrowers of Chateauneuf
held on to their guns. He did not resign from
the Syndicate as was demanded.
All is well since then. It has been realized
finally that these restrictions were for the
good of all. The struggles of the past are
unanimously accepted. |
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The
action engaged under the direction of Baron
Le Roy was implemented firstly in the region
of Cotes du Rhone then in other parts of France.
Action taken with energy uncommon for its
time , using the competences of Joseph CAPUS
and Edouard BARTHE , both members of parliament.
Progress was made slowly due to numerous and
strong opposition. Working behind the scenes
, Le Roy did not seem like the one who directed
the show.
Louis ORIZET wrote concerning this approach
: " he takes a low profile to bring the
attention to those who next to him fight the
good fight , but no one is mistaken. He is
the rock , the magistrate , the sronghold
, the trainer , always the first to engage
the battle."
Stability , harmony and prosperity were finally
observed with winegrowers of our region dedicated
to quality work when the decree stating the
creation of the "AOC Cotes du Rhones"
was signed. All the other wine producing regions
followed. |
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Then
begins the period of recognition. Honor after
honor , Baron Le Roy practically heads all
the national viticultural organizations and
then worldwide especially as President of
the International Wine Office.He was nominated
17 times , a position that normally should
head each year. The government recognizing
his worth takes advantage to make him Commander
of the Legion of Honor and the official foreign
representative when he was out of the country.
Of all the honors awarded him , he appreciates
the most (while still alive) the innauguration
of his bust at Sainte Cécile les Vignes
on the 23rd of October 1955. |
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The
epic of Baron Le Roy terminated one spring
day in June 1967. He rests in a small cemetery
of Chateauneuf du Pape in the middle of the
ocean of vines which he cherished so much
and to which , (last joke of a man known for
his humor) he wanted to give back all the
sap he had received in other to render them
even more beautiful. Engraved on his gravestone
are the first and last letters of the Greek
alphabeth , those of a Beginning and an End.
In 1963 , feeling his end is near , he entrusted
his testament to winegrowers through the intermediary
of "EUROPE 1".
"That
Never the choice of Quality should be abondonned.
We are not made for mass production. No!
We are unbeatable on the level of possessing
elements that render the Artisan an Artist.
Quality spells out the Genious of the French
people". |
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