Robert V. Camuto

I am back from Burgundy and the mythic 12th century Chateau du Clos de Vougeot, where last Saturday the Prix Clos de Vougeot 2009 literary prize was awarded to the French translation of my book Corkscrewed aka  "Un Americain dans les vignes: Une ode amoureuse a la France du bien-vivre" (Editions Michel Lafon, 2009).

The prize-- the Livres en Vignes two-day festival. included lots of goodies: money, wine (Chateau de la Tour Clos de Vougeot, 2004), Baccarat wine glasses and intronisation in the Chevaliers du Tastevin. But the biggest prize for me was getting to know some great intellects and writers such as Jean Robert-Pitte (the geographer, writer and grand epicurean-- who thankfully served as an eloquent panel discussion mate for the topic "6,000 years of drunkeness/ 6,000 years of history"on Sunday morning after a 7-hour meal that ended in the wee hours), and many others. It was a ball.

The feeling is humbling. I am not a wine critic, after all, or a connoisseur, or French-born. I am a writer who loves and is fascinated by people and real terroirs. When I was writing Corkscrewed , I did not know if it would ever see print. My motivation was vignerons and others with whom I shared some life-changing experiences across France. It has been thrilling to see how people have related to those experiences and characters. It's been truly  touching to see how French people eager to rediscover their own terroirs through the eyes of a foreigner.

Thank you to the jury, the festival and its organizers, its president for 2009 Bernard Pivot, the Chevaliers du Tastevin, and tous les joyeux enfants de la Bourgogne.