I read Christie’s recent posting with a sense of deja-vu – it was less than a couple of hundred words in their summary of Domaine Rousseau, and it was also far from identical – but I think the resemblance is stark.
1. Christie’s this week:
“In 1951 Charles Rousseau found himself at Victoria Station in London clutching two suitcases: one contained his neatly pressed shirts and trousers, and the other was stuffed with bottles of glorious burgundies form (sic) his family’s vineyards in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin. He visited his sole foreign client, a director at the British Broadcasting Corporation, before pounding the pavements of London, peering through shop windows to see if they sold wine within.
The bemused wine merchants smiled kindly at him and his wines before wishing him well on his way out…”
2. Me in 2005 and 2016:
“To that end in 1951 he found himself in London’s Victoria Station, two suitcases by his side. He first visited that very rare thing – an existing ‘foreign’ client – a director of the BBC, before setting about visiting as many companies as possible who might have an interest in his wines. He mainly chose his targets by looking through their windows to see if they already sold wine!
It was tough; his targets were happy, if rather bemused, to entertain Charles in their offices…”
I’ve pointed the similarities out, without response.
