Two Cities, One Wine
Rabat, 2021
As lockdown ended, Rabat regained its vibrancy, and so did our apartment in Agdal. To celebrate this return to life, we invited some friends to share a simple, joyful dinner, almost solemn after so many suspended months.
That very morning, I stopped by my local wine shop. With a knowing smile, the shopkeeper introduced me to a new wine: Le Clos Gabrielle, from the Trois Cavaliers estate in Berkane. Teasingly, I asked if the name was appropriate, alluding to Gabrielle, that strategic point at Điện Biên Phủ, which, according to legend, was named after the mistress of a French colonel. A historical wink to lighten the weight of the memory.
Unfortunately, the bottle didn’t hold its ground. The wine, perhaps timid and unstructured, didn’t convince us. A few days later, as I passed by my wine shop again, the shopkeeper asked what I thought of it. I replied, somewhat mixed: Just like in Indochina… it was a great defeat.
Essaouira, 2025
New wine seller, new context, perhaps a new maturity. On the advice of my friend Mounaim, I decided to give Clos Gabrielle another chance.
And then, surprise: the wine had transformed. Rich, precise, ambitious. The aromas unfolded like a door long closed. A true ascent. A victory, or better yet: a comeback!
It goes to show that with wine, as with stories, nothing is ever definitively written.
Wine, Places & Memories