Brumont's helping hand

Seeing a woman and child in difficulty on the slopes, a ski instructor gallantly swooped in to help. Problem fixed, he jumped on the ski lift with the woman’s husband and they started talking. Nothing unusual about this little scenario perhaps, except that the husband was Alain Brumont, king of Madiran, owner of Ch Bouscassé (upper picture below) and Ch Montus (lower picture below). The ski instructor’s name was Fabrice Dubose (above) and that conversation was the start of a lasting friendship.

Dubose then decided to study wine. After a stage with Brumont in 1992, he went on to work...