Inside the book

The work opens with Balloffet’s introductory essay, Au Pays de la Vigne en fleur, a poetic evocation of the Beaujolais landscape, naming the principal wine villages and situating the region within the Lyonnais, Forez, and Mâconnais. He describes the Saône valley, the vineyard slopes rising like an ancient amphitheatre, and the changing colors of the vine through treatment and seasonal decline. The text alludes to Claude Bernard, born at nearby Saint-Julien, and to the Romanesque profile of the château of Montmelas, concluding with dedicatory verses to the vigneron. The play proper is set in the kitchen of Jean Servigne, a vigneron of Saint-Julien-en-Beaujolais, rendered through detailed stage directions that inventory the farmhouse interior. Scene I introduces Clémence Servigne and her son Jean-Claude, who declares his love for Denise and seeks his mother’s support. Jean Servigne is initially reluctant but is persuaded by Clémence, and eventually blesses the union and delivers a climactic evocation of the vine in flower, the scent entering through the open window, and the approach of the vendange, with its sounds of cuve and pressoir, culminating in the promise of marriage and Denise’s role as “Servante de la Vigne.” Jean Guillermet (1893–1975), editor and publisher, was a central figure in Beaujolais cultural life. His press, founded in 1929, later became the Éditions du Cuvier, issuing over 250 works devoted to the region.