Wine interview: David Ginola

Jul 4 2008 by Helen Savage, The Journal

Everyone expected former Newcastle United footballer David Ginola to go into modelling, management or advertising when he quit the sport. But instead he turned to producing wine. Journal wine writer Helen Savage talks about the finer things in life with the flamboyant Frenchman.

ONE of the rewards of fame and fortune is the ability to buy your own vineyard.

Lots of celebrities have invested their millions in wine production, and after his footballing career ended in 2002, David Ginola thought it would be fun to follow suit.

The Newcastle United football legend is a son of Provence, the sun-soaked South East of France where life without wine would be as unimaginable as fish without chips or Whitley Bay without a sea fret.

“I began looking right and left, wondering what to do when I retired, and I decided to buy a vineyard,” he explained. “But the market was going through a difficult time and even a hectare of vines in the Var (his home county) was very, very expensive.”

A better solution turned out to be to buy into an existing partnership with the ambitious co-operative cellar of Coste Brulade in the small town of Puget-Ville, a short drive from his Sainte Maxime home.

David has clear ideas on the kind of wine he wants to bear his name.

“The Var is real wine country and my aim was to make a wine that would be thoroughly typical of Provence, but also one that would be fruity and good enough to conquer the British market. I’m from Provence and I want to bring a real Provençal rosé to the UK, my adopted country.” David visits the winery regularly and sees himself as a member of a team. “I’m happy to take their advice, they have the real savoir faire – and after all, I wouldn’t ask them for their ideas about football.”

But the team at Coste Brulade has found David really knows his wine and insists on very high standards. “He has a very good palate,” Hervé Bazet-Simoni, the sales manager of Coste Brulade, told me. “And he really enjoys his role in helping to select the wine that bears his name.”

The result is a delicious and typical Provençal rosé, of which David is justly proud, a wine so good that it won a silver medal in this year’s International Wine Challenge in London last May. I talked with David when he came to launch his wine and to collect his award, and last week I went to Puget-Ville to find out more about how the wine is made and to meet the rest of team Ginola.

When David signed for Paris Saint Germain in 1992 he began to discover the world of really fine wine – and had an income to be able to afford it.

“I didn’t know the best properties or vintages in those days and I had to get help to build a collection. I came to love Chablis and Cote-Rotie, and I discovered really great wines like Chateau Petrus, Chateau Cheval Blanc and the wonderful red Burgundies from the Domaine de la Romanée Conti. It was all very much traditional French wine.”

Although fine wine is almost as easy to find on Tyneside as in Paris, it must still have been quite a culture shock when he signed for Newcastle in 1995. David was also the first Frenchman to play for the Magpies. “I didn’t know the region at all, and it was very hard to adapt to at first. I couldn’t understand Geordie – not a word of it; but to my surprise I was chosen as [Premiership] player of the month for August, and after that I really felt at home and accepted – despite the weather.”

It was agreeably hard work trying to interview David. It was especially tough having to look down at my notes away from those clear half smiling, half quizzical blue-grey eyes.

The team at Coste Brulade have clearly succumbed to his very considerable charm too. I shared a relaxed lunch with them in the shade of a huge plane tree at the home of Michel and Cécile Monier, whose grapes go to make David’s wine.

They all talk about him with evident warmth and take a real pride in their shared project. Jacqueline Dalmasso, another grower, said: “The project is bringing real prestige to us,” to which chief winemaker Jean-Christophe Audeoud added: “It’s all a lovely adventure.”

Hervé Bazet-Simoni is delighted David has chosen to sell his wine under the Coste Brulade label (his name appears in quite small print on the back of the bottle). “He said that Coste Brulade has a good reputation and that we should trust that.”

Puget-Ville, the home of Coste Brulade, is a sleepy Provençal village. Bars and restaurants are on almost every corner of the main street, which is lined by ancient plane trees. The winery was built in 1923 and is now a huge cool cathedral of vast concrete tanks and glistening stainless steel presses. It’s a co-operative with about 300 members with 2,000 acres of vines.

Partnership with a co-op hadn’t been David’s first idea, admitted Hervé. “But when he saw what we were capable of doing he was delighted. And as soon as a plot of vines comes on the market, he’d like to buy it and become a vigneron too.”

The recent success of Coste Brulade is due to teamwork inspired by André Camous, the quietly-spoken president of the co-op. Making a wine to meet David’s strict demands has been quite a technical challenge for Bordeaux-trained Jean-Christophe.

Gleaming new equipment has been installed, including a refrigeration unit. This allows Jean Christophe to extract as much aroma from the black Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah grapes as possible, while retaining the pale, pretty colour so typical of the best, traditional Provençal rosés.

“David wanted a wine that was pale-coloured but aromatic. He wanted it to look brilliant and to taste very elegant,” Jean-Christophe says.

This fruity prizewinning rosé is the first wine to be released by the Coste Brulade/Ginola team. It has a fragrant strawberry smell with a hint of raspberries and, on one occasion it seemed to me, rose petals. It’s very fruity but dry, with soft strawberry fruit. It makes an ideal aperitif, but also is a brilliant partner for food. I shared a bottle with my friend, former Journal food writer Joan Bunting, who now lives in Provence. She made a delicious soup of fresh local vegetables flavoured with a vibrant garlic and basil “pistou” sauce. The combination of food and wine was stunning.

The bottle concept is simple and will be sealed with a screw cap. Screw caps are seen as essential for the British market. Andre is also quite keen to use them on the other wines sold by Coste Brulade, 85% of which are rosé. He turned to Hervé. “Let’s try them out on a couple of pallet loads and put them in the winery shop this summer and see what folks here make of them!”

If the rosé proves a success, a dry white and fruity red will be released too. Both must be typically Provençal. I tasted a white that David has decided is pretty much what he wants, made from the local Rolle grape. It’s delicately fruity, with an attractive mineral aftertaste and despite being bone dry, a hint of honey. The prototype red, Hervé admits, needs more work. David isn’t yet satisfied with it, though the Syrah/Grenache blend we tasted is promisingly fruity with plenty of ripe black fruit flavours.

Hervé was gearing up for crucial meetings with a UK importer. The team believes that to get the best distribution of the wine, a single importer is key.

When I asked David where he would like to see it sold, he reeled off an encyclopaedic list of bars and clubs of Newcastle. It’s clear he retains a deep affection for the city, and especially for the Toon Army.

“Newcastle United was my first club in Britain and I’ll always be a supporter. It needs to attract great players and it needs to win something soon. I wish the Toon Army every success, because they really deserve it.” As he turns to go, he adds: “Bring a busload of those Geordies down to Coste Brulade. I’d love to show them around. I’ll get on the coach with them, take the mike and show them where my wine is made.”

Interested? I’m game if you are.

Meantime, let’s hope talks with the importers go well and David’s dream of Coste Brulade in every bar on Newcastle Quayside is soon a reality.

Bring a busload of those Geordies down to Coste Brulade. I’d love to show them around