Fights, films, forms and finally football

It really has been a month of two halves. In the first half we had staff off work, tantrums, a bundle and several crises. And a television crew was filming a documentary in the kitchen. I tried to ignore the cameras and get on with my work, until I realised that was exactly what they wanted - every time I looked up from concentrated efforts with a sauce, a camera was in my face.

The vendage of the grapes has also been under way. Our sister châteaux - Lynch-Bages and Pichon-Longueville - and other prestigious châteaux hired gangs of labourers to gather the grapes à la main. My landlord took part in the picking - and injured his back. The injury needed an injection, so he ended up less well off both physically and financially.

For us at Cordeillan-Bages, the vendage meant a different clientele - fewer tourists and more wine-makers and journalists. But I had been promised days off when the number of customers diminished with the end of the harvest. I was looking forward to this free time, so it was in my interest to check on the harvesters' progress and give them words of encouragement.

Maybe I caught them between bouts of heavy work, but when I passed they were almost always having grape fights - to the point where all contestants were drenched in purple juice.

This month I also had to exchange my English immatricule (car identity) for the French version. During this process I endured criminally bad advice from officials, numerous wasted trips and needlessly long delays in processing forms - as well as the financial cost. I had to get documents - most of which I didn't need - filled in from just about every fiscal office in Bordeaux. However, this only served to stiffen my resolve to see it through - and so I did.

A neighbour of mine then offered to change my car to left-hand drive for about £100. He made it seem far more straightforward than what I had just been through. But visions of the pedals suddenly not working, or the steering-wheel coming away in my hand was enough of a deterrent for me, so I politely declined his offer.

The second half of the month was quite different. The vendage was over and I got my promised days off. I went on holiday to Spain and took the opportunity to watch some football - Barcelona versus Salamanca. Very relaxing. n

John Homfray is chef de partie at Château Cordeillan-Bages, Pauillac, France

Next diary from John Homfray: 3 December