Dare to Dream in Pink

The Mirabeau story in Provence sounds like a fairy tale, but behind the scenes lies a very different tale – one of struggle and risk-taking

- Ruma Singh

Over 20 years ago, Stephen Cronk was based in his London home with a thriving career in the telecom sector. He had three young children with his German-born wife, Jeany, and life was just dandy. Then it all changed.

The 2008 economic crisis hit the UK and it got Stephen thinking about a change. Which involved leaving the safety of his corporate life to take a life-changing risk for himself and his family and a 180-degree career change - liquidating all his assets and a move to a new country, France - all to make wine.

Fast forward 15 years, and today Maison Mirabeau is feted as a classic Provence rosé and a global success. But the story begins many years before this shift. Stephen fell in love with wine during a gap-year in Australia, something he knew little about.

"I didn't come from a family particularly interested in wine so I had no connection to it and everything to learn. During my travels, I not only discovered that I enjoyed wine, I became passionate about its sense of place and its people."

Stephen decided to return to the UK to look for work in the wine industry and started a distribution business, selling wine to restaurants and clubs in London for a time, before returning to the fast-growing tech sector. When Stephen was offered a promotion, he decided to ask for redundancy instead. His wife Jeany played a role in this decision. Jeany had spent her childhood summers in the south of France where her family had a second home and where she developed a love of the southern lifestyle and everything pale pink, drinking rosé from the Cote d’Azur.