Meet Jeany Cronk

We sat down with the founder of award-winning winemaker Maison Mirabeau in her Provençal home. We talked about her decision to leave England to follow her dreams of making rosé in France, the importance of a slow pace of living and how she created her new book At Home In Provence.

Jeany, thank you for sitting down with us in the sunshine of Provence.

In your new book you talk about the ‘art de vivre’ or the ‘the art of living’, what does that mean to you?
The art of living in Provence is really synonymous with the joy of being in the moment. It's about being together, enjoying simple flavours and good conversation, good food and wine.

Tell us about yourself, your brand and your new book.
So 15 years ago, my husband and I, took our three young kids and we moved to Provence, which was a huge family adventure. We founded a rosé brand called Mirabeau, which is one of the best loved brands in the UK today. And I have finally fulfilled my lifelong dream of writing a book about the lifestyle and the food and drink of Provence, which is coming out this year.

What’s your favourite recipe from the book?
It’s hard to choose as there are just so many really nice ones. But at the moment, with the early melons coming out, I love the chargrilled melon with burrata and Espelette Pepper vinaigrette. It’s just really nice and delicious and full of fresh flavours.

Talk us through how you craft a unique taste experience with each of your Provence rosés?
Our unique cuvée is really quite a lengthy process. You can imagine it like perfume making. We start with lots and lots of elements, then we whittle them down to the very best and then we make sure we've got a really great start, a sort of head note effectively, a mid-palate, which is what you will taste in the middle and then a finish.

And once you've got those elements complete, then you'll have a really lovely wine.

Explain how you made the leap to leave your corporate job in the city and what inspired it?

Steven and I knew that if we didn't pursue this big sort of entrepreneurial adventure, I guess we would always regret it. So, at some point we decided that was what we were going to do, we just closed our eyes to the consequences and sort of went for it.

You can follow Jeany on Instagram @provencejournals and her book, At Home In Provence, is released on the 15th May and is available to pre-order.

Jeany wears the Seaford Ecru Herringbone Shirt, the Cooper Car Coat and the Burwood Ecru V Neck Jumper .