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The Proust Q&A: Jean-Christophe Mau
Jean-Christophe Mau is the owner and manager of Château Brown in Pessac-Léognan and Château Preuillac in the Médoc. He recently started making honey at Château Brown, which he sells at the winery. He lives in Bordeaux with his wife Emmanuelle and two daughters.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
To be on an eternal holiday with my daughters.
What is your greatest fear?
Losing one of my daughters.
Who do you most admire?
My father, Jean-Francois Mau.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Women, of course.
What is your current state of mind?
I’m anxious about the future.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Wit, sensuality and glamour.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Damn it!
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My daughters.
When and where were you happiest?
In the morning, among the vines at Château Brown.
Which talent would you most like to have?
To be able to sing.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To be less easily stressed out.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
To achieve the balance of a successful professional life and a happy family life.
Where would you most like to live?
There are three places where I feel at home: at Château Brown, by the sea on the Great Dune of Pyla in the Arcachon Bay, and in Mauritius.
What is your most treasured possession?
The land at Château Brown.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Firmness.
Who is your hero of fiction?
James Bond.
What is it that you most dislike?
Injustice.
What is your greatest regret?
That my great grandfather, Yvon Mau, cannot taste the wines I now make, particularly Château Brown white 2010.
What is your motto?
Don’t just hope, live life to the full.
Who would be your ideal dinner party guests and what wines would you serve them?
The dinner would be on 21 June to celebrate the arrival of summer and also the longest day of the year. It would take place under the stars in my garden at Château Brown with my father, my grandfather Michel, and my great grandfather Yvon. My daughters would also be there. We would serve Château Brown white 2009, followed by a magnum of Brown red 2005, then a bottle of Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts from my friend Sylvain Cathiard. Finally, in honour of Michel and Yvon, we would finish with an old Yquem, the 1947.