From Iran to the vineyards

Iranian asylum seeker Jangjoo collecting grapes as she takes part in the harvest at French wine-maker of Iranian origin Makaremi’s plot, part of the Dubard vineyard, where Makaremi recreates an ancient Persian Syrah wine in Saint-Meard-de-Gurcon, southwestern France. — AFP

SWAPPING their state-enforced veils for T-shirts reading “life” and “liberty”, a group of Iranian women who have fled to France now help make wine that traces its roots back to ancient Persia.

“We won’t stop, we will keep fighting. The struggle against the mullahs, the Islamic republic, is going on here in a different way,” said Marjan Jangjoo, her head bared to the rain in a vineyard in France’s western Dordogne region.