The Table: Matt and Marcel in Dijon

0:00MattSo let's try the wine before it gets cold. Cheers. Cheers, mate.

0:05MarcelWhat can you smell?

0:07MattWhat can I smell? White wine, as usual. I can't imagine actually getting all these hints of this, hints of that. All I can smell right now is white wine. I remember you, because we got the same boat across. You being on that boat, and then what, I think I sent you the wrong way?

0:35MarcelYeah. The only thing I remember is I asked one question to Matt Renton. He gave me the wrong answer. "Which direction for this hotel?" "Probably this one." I go this way, so ciao. I went all around the island, and...

0:50MattI don't know how I got it wrong, I must have been staying at the hotel too. And when I left I thought, maybe I should have taken his number, WhatsApp, Instagram or something.

1:01MarcelBut I met you ten minutes later, after walking around the whole island.

1:05MattElephantine, for people who don't know, is a little island in the middle of the Nile.

1:10MarcelSo can we say it's a Nile land?

1:12MattYeah, it's an island. Yeah, of course.

1:14MarcelA Nile land.

1:16MattNile land. It's a Nile land. So smart.

1:21MarcelSo funny. Nile land. It still remains the memory of the hottest days in my life. Instead of paying ten, I would pay eight, but I put my tent on the roof instead of having a bed. So to spare two euro, I would just sleep on the roof in my tent. And I remember having a bowl of water, a proper bowl of water, and when I came back at the end of the day the bowl, the water was just warm. Like burning.

1:54MattI don't know how you managed up there, obviously it was just so hot.

2:00MarcelOne: the namus. I was thinking, the warmth and the namus together... You can't open the tent for fresh air at night, because the namus kill you. For everybody back home, the namus is... mosquito. But it was still... I have beautiful memories of these days. So I went to the border and they say: no, you can't pass, you pass tomorrow. I say, well, where do I sleep? I don't have water, food. But fortunately a lot of trucks were waiting. I just make friends with some truck driver. I would sleep inside the cabin of the truck. We had a little food, they offered me food.

2:36MattWhat did they feed you? Food?

2:39MarcelYeah, ful [Sudanese bean stew]. Probably ful. Can't remember exactly. But yeah, there was nothing else than ful.

2:45MattI mean, I could actually murder a bowl of ful right now.

2:49MarcelMurder?

2:50MattNo, that's what I mean, I'd murder it. I'd enjoy it right now. It's a hard place to travel anyway, you know, just as a, you know, Westerner, the language, and you know, the facilities, the transport, which is why I loved it so much, because it was difficult. It was a test for me. Let alone you having to cycle. I mean, wow.

3:14MarcelAnd that was, is, the best combination: when travelling is difficult but the people are super, super welcoming. If travelling is easy but the locals hate you, it's a hell. People are super helpful, super welcoming, super friendly. It's great because it's a challenge, but you always feel safe, and you enjoy.

3:35MattI think some of the nicest people you meet when you're travelling is in Sudan.

3:41MarcelIt's strange, the fact that the less they have, the friendlier they are. But you know what, Sudan was that nice to us also, I think, because we met. But I lost you. That was also the point. That was an incredible story. I've already told it to a lot of people, and they ask me: who is Matt Renton?

3:57MattI'm Matt Renton.

3:59MarcelSomeone that could never exist in my life. But now...

4:04MattSo my phone got pinched, and we had no means of getting in contact, I don't think I even had your phone.

4:12MarcelSo I started looking for Matt, but I think I didn't even know his username. So I was looking for "Matt". Matt could be anyone. So a lot of Matt in the world. So no Matt, no Matt, no Matt. I don't even remember where I checked. Facebook, Instagram, this kind of thing. But several times, no results. And I said, I remember, he told me about this mother selling furniture in Newcastle. So last call, last try, last chance: furniture, Newcastle, Google, please find something. And a random website of furniture. Nice, fancy furniture. I have no news from Matt Renton, I don't even know if he took his flight to Ethiopia. If by chance you are his actual mother, can you just tell me yes or no? This is Instagram. And I told you on Instagram: I go to a techno festival in Zanzibar, in Zanzibar, if you'd like to join.

5:10MattI mean, after two months in Sudan, a techno festival on the beach in Zanzibar, so it's pretty appealing. It's given me my passion and my love for the French people, I think, and cemented this.

5:24MarcelFrench people are, for me, average. Normal. But the French people we met there are particularly incredible. We are. We are. That was five years ago. It was 2021. Five years ago. It's gone quick. It's gone quick, but still a good friendship.

5:47MattKeeping in contact is not my strong point, but this may be the first time I've made real effort.

5:52MarcelWe easily, us two, spend six months, maybe one year, without speaking.

5:59MattYeah, it happens. But that's okay, because, you know, we just pick up where we left off. How do you train your nose, though?

6:07MarcelBy doing. Just lots of doing, doing, doing.

6:10MattAre we allowed to taste it or not?

6:12MarcelAre we allowed to taste it or not?

6:14MattDo we have to keep smelling?

6:15MarcelYeah, we can. So we have just more acid, more fresh.

6:20MattMore acid here?

6:22MarcelYeah, and we would say more fresh.

6:27MattI would have said the opposite, for me. I felt like this one was more fresh, easy, light, fresh, dry. But that one to me is a little bit heavier, a little bit more flavour. For me, just as an amateur, quite an amateur.

6:46MarcelAnd when I say it's fresher: fresh means acid, is another way. A cool way to say acid, because you don't want to be acidic.

6:54MattYeah, well, it doesn't sound like a great flavour, acidic.

6:59MarcelSo we say fresh. This one, with the effect of the malolactic fermentation, brings you the roundness, the smoothness. Maybe like the buttery, hazelnutty notes.

7:15MattYou can get the buttery bit, yeah.

7:17MarcelSo the buttery, then, is the opposite of fresh. What gives you... the buttery is like smooth, cool, hugging, and the acidity, the freshness, is more sharp. Sharpie.

7:32MattI actually prefer that one.

7:35MarcelSo if you like this kind of wine, I can easily find some wine you're gonna like from here. So right now, we've today been working super hard On the website. Big day. Nearly ready. Nearly. But always the same thing to do: you do 80% of the job in 20% of the time, and to do the last 20% you need 80% of the time. Maybe next time you come back to France. When do you come back to France?

8:07MattWhen do we come back? Well, maybe the first Tiños Viños delivery before Christmas, I'm gonna have to, eh?

8:16MarcelLoad the van with the 50 cases for the 50 customers we don't have yet.

8:23MattWe will. We will. Build it, and they will come.