Bordeaux, 31st-7-01, Registered letter (Ack. of receipt).

Alain DONNART - Data processing and Translations -
14 rue François-Lévêque 33300 Bordeaux
Tél & Fax 05 56 50 53 09
E- mail : adonnart@free.fr
Site : http://adonnart.free.fr
to
Prince Robert of Luxembourg
Vice President & Managing Director
of Domaine Clarence Dillon S.A.
37 avenue Pierre 1° de Serbie
75008 Paris

Enc. : Letter to your mother, dated the 7-2-01

Sir Vice-president

  During my last visit to your site, I learnt in your 'Latest News' column of July 27th 2001, that you were newly appointed Managing Director.

I write to you as a person in charge and as son of the CEO, Duchess de Mouchy, to warn you for the last time - just before I lodge a complaint - that madam your mother was certainly wrong when she forgot to answer to me (cf. my enclosed letter). I ask you to answer yourself on these grounds and also because I shall summon you as witness of the harassment I suffered until the day of the 99 "gerbaude", feast that you attended & during which you have seen certain facts.

What I'm still expecting from the people in charge of the domain is an explicit recognition of the reality of violences suffered by a number of vintagers during more than two harvests, and also that apologies are made to the victims.
As Mr. DELMAS admits he doesn't "know exactly what happened" in the domain, i.e. his incompetent management , and also because he did not kept his word to inform me, and moreover because he took unfair advantage of his powers by forbidding to the staff involved to communicate with me, standing in the way of the necessary explanations and of the setting up of the truth. He wil have to explain his various mean manoeuvres to justice.

That is why I applied to madam your mother, who did not answer.
Please inform her about the following wording for which she is liable :

"To the Dean of the examining magistrates of the county court (TGI) of BORDEAUX

Object : SUIT FOR DAMAGES

In view of the foregoing, Mr. DONNART feels compelled to raise a complaint for threats, harassment, assaults, and infringement on property - all with premeditation and repetition - against the two tractor drivers who are the direct perpetrators, and against the management (foreman, Vineyard Manager, Director, CEO), which allowed the things to carry on during several years, as well as against everyone that the investigation could reveal."

Please note also that if you don't condescend to answer, this wording will be completed with the term "Vice-president" after the term CEO, and both will be accountable in court for persisting in ignoring the victims of violence (acknowledged implicitly since the lawyer of Mr . DELMAS suggests generously to pay me the cleaning of working clothes, on documentary evidences!) suffered by some employees of your Domain in your properties.

Even in case of a denial of justice (a recent complaint returned a verdict of lack of evidence because none of the 25 victims - except the plaintiff - has been questioned by the examining magistrate in a case of hidden work under the pretext of a probationary period), you won't be free from annoying consequences in terms of reputation: I have already written to three of the personalities who honoured your domain with their visit, and I intend to continue as long as due acknowledgement is not effective.

In order to prevent the matter to be hushed up, I put all the mail exchanged with Haut-Brion on my site, and for lack of your answer, I shall also add this letter.
So, you will be able to refer to it and to report to me possible errors - nobody is perfect - that I am ready to correct, because don't you believe that an error which has been detected & not corrected becomes a fault ?

To finish with an informative note about your own site, I found some odd items which could puzzle not only the simple readers, but also the traders and the potential buyers :

O In the 'About' page, for instance, I read "Company with Capital of 2 179 400 euros", while in your correspondence, one can read "2 179 400 F". Has the capital of your company increased sixfold ?

O In the "VINTAGES" page, compared with its translation :
1942 year over the average => below-normal year!!
1964 => not translated
1972 evolved wine => underdeveloped wine
1979 => in English but not in French
1990 (Mission) tasting notes ?

O A last detail, to end on a personal note : in your word on the Vintage 2000, I read "A vintage, of which ('duquel'), I must say, we are very proud." While my french grammar says " Of which('Dont') has the value of a complement introduced by of. Then, it is necessary to use this relative pronoun for all the verbs or the verbal expressions building their complement with of."

Please pass on my respects to madam your mother and my best regards to the translator of your site, would it be only for the assonance preserved from "Août fait le moût" to "August makes the must" (Vintages/1993), what allows me to wish that each of us, in August, will act for the best, to say the least.

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