“Plein Soleil”, the vintage which links the vine and cinema, a production signed by director Christian Carion

The time for the harvest has come for Christian Carion. On a plot of land in Caluire, the director, from a family of farmers, set himself a challenge in May 2020: plant vines and make wine on the right bank of the Rhône, very close to Lyon.

“It’s a young vine, it’s the first year that we have had such a beautiful harvest,” entrust Pierre-Marie Chermette, with pride. With director Christian Carion, he is the other architect of this success. Replanted four years ago in Caluire, these vines have already produced several vintages. This is how the director became a producer… of wine! A sort of homecoming for the man of cinema who today did not hesitate to don a heavy grape harvester’s hood. Neighbors and friends came to help him.

“For years, there was market gardening here. Everything was sold on Quai Saint-Antoine (nb: in Lyon). 30 years ago, everything stopped and the plot fell asleep. It was abandonment”, says Christian Carion. The director bought the old farm located on the heights of Caluire and its plot invaded by brambles. “I wanted to put this plot back into cultivation, I thought it was a shame to leave it like that. These are my agricultural origins,” explains the director from the North. With Pierre-Marie Chermette, a Beaujolais winemaker, Christian Carion replanted more than 1800 feet of Syrah.

“It was in full lockdown. Everything stopped and we were replanting. It was a real light. Everything was going out in the world and we had a project. It was to plant. To plant was to is to believe in the future and hope”,

It must be said that this plot is special. Located on the right bank of the Rhône, it is located in the last bend of the river before its entry into Lyon. Already, in the Roman world, the site was a vineyard. “We wanted a plot of land in Greater Lyon to produce professionally,” explains Christian Carion. It is also a way of reestablishing continuity between the vineyards of the Rhône valley and those of Beaujolais. The project took root successfully. Three vintages have already seen the light of day. The wine is sold to several establishments, wine merchants and corkers in Lyon.

But why did you name this wine “Plein Soleil”? Cinematic homage and geographical reality come together wonderfully. “Plein Soleil is one of the most beautiful films with Alain Delon. A film by René Clément. It’s a vineyard that is full of sunlight. I found that the title made the link between the two worlds”, explains the director. The plot, established on the heights of Caluire, facing south-southwest, is bathed in light.

Bringing the vines back to life on the heights of Caluire, the project was a challenge, but above all a story of patience. And the director does not fail to draw the parallel with the 7th art. “Between agriculture and cinema, there are more connections than you might think. A scenario is a promise. When you plant a vineyard, the promise is the wine. You have to be patient. These are jobs of hope. It takes a lot of patience to make a film. “Merry Christmas”, it took me 10 years to do it”, adds the director.

He sums up this wine adventure in a few words. “It’s a beautiful story, like good films”summarizes Christian Carion. A beautiful story and certainly not the last.
Christian Carion became known in 2001 with “A swallow made spring”. A film shot in the Vercors and inspired by the true story of a Parisian decided to start a new life on the farm. More than two decades after this success, the director has not finished with his peasant roots. He says he has other projects that “turn” around agriculture. As proof, his next film subject: that of a farmer who “rebel” against the giant Monsanto. A story of peasant common sense and resistance.