Where art meets wine
In the French river town Blaye where the artist Clarissa Schaefer (see portfolio), met the wine buff, Leslie Kellen (see blog) and where they started their journey together!
Blaye
is a quaint little town, just North of Bordeaux in South-West France, that attracts people from all over the world, a magnet for those who love wine, art, French history & culture.
That’s what happened to the South African, Leslie,
who was mysteriously drawn to Blaye in 1999 and bought the legendary Villa St Simon, which he turned into home-away-from-home and hub for wine lovers. In 2010 the German born and South African raised, Clarissa, joined him, and ever since they have been throwing their talents and skills together and have continuously been creative is all sorts of ways:
- Restoring historic buildings and creating amazing living spaces
- Creating a wine bar & wine store
- Pioneering art as an attraction in the town and creating the first art galerie in Blaye
- Turning the ETALON ROUGE brand into the iconic wine it is today
- Developing new homes for people from all around the world and expanding their horizons to incapsulate the wonderful life-style in a French country town, thus creating a destination, beyond their wildest expectations
La Galerie, is where a lot happens:
– Art exhibitions with local and international artists –
– Wine tastings with Etalon Rouge and other excellent great value Bordeaux wines –
– Events with interesting people from around the world –
– A place to hang out and chill! –
See you soon!
