You have to admire and respect the entrepreneurial recklessness of those souls who, for whatever reasons, have been seduced into the romantic notion of owning their own vineyard or even chateau.
Martin Krajewski is a case in point. A wine-loving Englishman and keen golfer, who played regularly on the British amateur circuit, he was doing very nicely, having set up in the early 80s an outsourcing consulting and financial services company.
"Frankly, it was ticking over very smoothly and I was getting bored," he admits.
Krajewski began investing, in a small way, as a silent partner in a Bordeaux Winery, Chateau de Sours, an 80ha property planted with merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, sauvignon blanc and semillon.
"Every year I had to put more money into it and kept investing until I finished up owning it." In 2008 his family relocated and the former corporate executive is now a fully engaged proprietor of the beautifully restored chateau and vineyard, set high on a commanding limestone plateau to the south-west of Libourne and Pomerol and facing the ancient town of St Emilion.
