Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen: Interview with authors of the Winemaker series

Who would be your dream writing partner – alive or dead – and why?

We both have authors we’d like to have known or shared moments with, without necessarily having had as a writing partner. For Noël, that would be Simenon, the famous French writer of the Inspector Maigret novels. For Jean-Pierre, the dream writing partner would be Colette, a strong-willed and demanding writer, who shared interests in topics such as food and wine.

What does it mean for you to have a writing partner – what are the benefits you’ve found?

Having a writing partners means confronting points of view. It’s complementary and enriching. You get to know the qualities of each partner, but also their weaknesses. And it means having to be very organized. Both writers have to hold up their end of the deal. We share on-site research, discuss the plotting and the regions we’ll explore, then split up the writing of the novels, with Noël doing the final polishing.

What is the best advice you have had about working with a writing partner?

It all really depends on the personality of each of the authors involved, and each partnership has to figure out how best to work together. For the Winemaker Detective series, our French publisher gave us one suggestion: have one writer responsible for “harmonizing” the series, making sure that it is stylistically similar throughout.

          

You’ve described the series as exploring France’s cultural heritage, can you tell us more about what the series covers of your homeland’s heritage, other than wine-making? What did you want the series to show the world about France and its people?

It is clear that by exploring the world of wine, we are exploring the depths of the French psyche. As we go from region to region, we discover much about regional secrets and culture and share these in the series. We meet with individuals, we taste wine and local specialties, and learn about a region, and in doing so, the history and traditions of each region are omnipresent, and make their way into the Winemaker Detective stories.

Why did you decide to make Benjamin half-English? What was your aim in that?

We wanted to remember that the English (well, and the Dutch) played key roles in the development and promotion of Bordeaux wines. Some were renowned traders, others owned vineyards in Aquitaine, particularly in the Médoc. That’s why we wanted our main character to have a foot in both cultures. It was also our way of paying homage to Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.

What are the essential elements of a mystery for you? What are the essential elements of a mystery in your series?

To tell the truth, for us, the mystery is often just a pretext to wander through exceptional landscapes, discover vineyards and wine, and meet out-of-the-ordinary people. In our mysteries, the real hero is the wine itself.

I read an interview in which you both described working together, setting out ten summaries and plotting those stories for the series – how does having such a plan help or hinder how you write the series – have you ever gone against those plans and those summaries? How did that change the books?

When we do our research, we often find that reality is more interesting than fiction, and what we planned from the start gets enriched by what
we discover out in the regions. In these cases, we adapt our stories to local situations, and allow the stories from the real winemakers to carry through in our writing.

             

Congratulations on the series being made into a TV show! What a thrill it must be to see your characters come to life onscreen?

Thank you. It is quite rewarding as authors to see our characters come to live. We have been lucky to have our recurring hero be incarnated so well by the French actor Pierre Arditi, who is not only an accomplished actor both on stage and on screen, but also a wine connoisseur himself.

Are there differences you did not expect between the page and the screen?

The constraints linked to TV production are obviously not the same as those of novel writing, and lead to changes both in the stories themselves, but also in the psychological make-up of some of the characters. For example, one of the stories took place when winter floods devastated vineyards, weather conditions that were impossible recreate to shoot the series (fortunately!), so the screenwriting required a lot of imagination to remain loyal to the initial story.

What has the series managed to enhance with respect to your writing and the books?

Actually, the books were the starting point for the series, and remain so.

 

Authors Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen for the creative partnership responsible for the Winemaker Detective series of cozy French wine mysteries, following the adventures of two gourmet sleuths gumshoeing around French wine country. A hit TV series in France, four of the novels are currently available in English—Treachery in Bordeaux, Grand Cru Heist, Nightmare in Burgundy and Deadly Tasting—and a fifth is scheduled for release in February 2015 (Cognac Conspiracies).