REAL LIFE


The Château George 7 winery that Sally has built up from scratch


Sally enjoys the fruits of her labour surrounded by her vines


vines. The property I bought belonged to another château that separated off this parcel of vines and buildings.” From that point, Sally set about starting a boutique winery from scratch. “Fortunately, Saillans has the most magnificent terroir for making wine: Fronsac clay over limestone bedrock running through the village from St- Émilion. It’s perfect, with so much potential.” Sally isn’t one to shy away


from hard work, which is just as well because while she was renovating the ramshackle buildings she had bought, she was also busy studying for a diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. “I started by renovating the


The property was quite rundown before Sally worked her magic on it


“Outside, I painted the facade and added a terrace from which I can watch the stunning sunsets”


house, which dates from the 1950s. This involved adding bathrooms, opening up the kitchen, replacing the floors and installing extra windows to introduce more light. In fact, everything needed doing, including new electrics, plumbing and a new septic tank. The garage at the back


of the house was transformed into a guest suite. Outside was left until last, at which point I painted the facade and added a terrace from which I can watch the stunning sunsets.”


NEW LEASE OF LIFE Sally hired a local maître d’oeuvre to oversee the work but was closely involved in choosing materials and making decisions. “A renovation is always hard work but it’s exciting, too, especially when you have essentially a blank canvas.” The renovation was finally completed in 2018, leaving Sally with a four- bedroom home standing amid beautiful, rolling countryside. Fortunately, dealing with


local builders and other specialists posed few problems because Sally is fluent in French and had a clear idea of what she wanted. “I tackled the renovation like I tackled the business, taking an honest look at what I could and couldn’t do before sourcing the best local expertise I could afford. But


 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: September/October 2023 31


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