From winegrower on Boston to team leader on Cassena, Fany Nunes has worked her way through the estate’s plots and the roles in the Palmer family. There, she has built a refuge rooted in freedom to face life’s challenges.She slips out from between the rows of vines, stealing away from her beloved team for a chat under the afternoon sun. Summer is making a timid appearance, and Fany the winegrower is beaming. Her heart-shaped earrings sparkle in the sunlight. “My niece chose them for me”, she says. In the distance, colleagues wave at her, others walk over to give her a hug. She has agreed to open up, to let us paint her portrait. And she does so with seemingly infinite gentleness and the discipline of a model student.

For the past two years, Fany Nunes has been a team leader, managing five people in the vineyard. Alongside Kylian, Johan, Angélique, Cristina, and Alex, her mission is “to ensure that the instructions are followed” and to make sure that each day is a good one. “We work together constantly; we never get separated,” she likes to say. Needless to say, she places family – both by birth and work – at the top of her list of values. The challenge of teamwork? “Being irreproachable when it comes to following up the plots. We're more likely to come across a row that's already been worked, so we apply ourselves. The vines need to be pampered.”

Fany’s winegrowing journey is intimately linked to the outer plots of the Boston “island,” a 25-acre enclave populated by animals and covered with forest, which joined the estate in 2015. The young winegrower worked there even before the property changed hands. “That’s where I learned the trade,” she says. In the months leading up to the purchase of the additional plots, she was hired by Château Palmer. She changed employers, but her background made her stay on Boston. She saw it as a sign. While others find the area isolated – harsh, even – she finds it soothing. “It’s true that it’s harder to work on Boston; you have to earn the place. But there’s this feeling of being out in nature, in the middle of nowhere… I like it; I feel good there.” She admits that the wild side of these plots suits her temperament. Needless to say, at Palmer, the estate and the wines are not the only ones with character.

“It’s harder to work on Boston; you have to earn the place”
‍Fany Nunes — vigneronne

When Stéphanie Nunes, or Fany, started out in the wine business, her surname preceded her. “It’s a name from the traveler community, a name that makes people judge you before they know you. I’ve got a big family, and some of them have done bad things,” she says, frankly and unapologetically. At the time, she had graduated from an accounting course but she was filled with anger. She began working at the vineyard without a second thought, because “it’s easy, even when you don’t know how.” At the age of 22, just before she joined Château Palmer, she suddenly lost her mother. She found herself looking after her brother and sister, having to think about the future and assume a new role as the sole supporter of her family. “I didn’t have time to be sad, to mourn, to take care of myself,” she says. The first years were complicated. “I was impulsive, I didn’t care about offending people or following the rules. I couldn’t see beyond the end of my row of vines.” Shortly after, she learned that she was unable to have children. The rage that had built up throughout her different traumas began to take root. On Boston, where “nobody comes to see you, where there’s no form of civilization,” Fany didn’t actually feel so bad. “I wasn’t very sociable; I wasn’t very nice to be around. And people could feel it…”

Over time, she gained the trust of Palmer’s management team. “I was always moved by Fany,” says Sabrina Pernet, the estate’s technical director. “But she was rude, and often ended up in my office. I kept telling her we were all in the same boat.” Against all expectations – including her own – Fany was given more responsibilities. She gradually calmed down and changed her behavior. “I needed to work on something and channel my energy. At Palmer, I had a goal, enough space to focus on development,” she says with a gentle shyness.

Something clicked, and a new life began. Today, as head of her team, she has to be exemplary. “I don’t have the right to fail,” she says. The woman who used to shout in anger has now mastered the art of conversation. “She’s a great spokesperson for the winegrowers. If she says something isn’t working, we sit up and listen. She’s a great support for her colleagues, and for us. She plays a mediating role,” says Sabrina “She’s all about hard work and teamwork,” says Alba, the vineyard manager. “Her development is one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen.” As a child, she wanted to become a lawyer, “to have that magic charisma, like in American TV shows,” says Fany with a laugh.

“Respecting nature, that’s what I’m all about”
Fany Nunes — vigneronne

Fany now thrives on trust and teamwork. She has gone back to school, starting a two-year remote-learning occupational qualification in Viticulture and Oenology. Confronted with her own family culture, “where you’re only respected as a woman when you’re married with children,” she discovered that she was ambitious. Now, she is determined to climb the ladder to become assistant vineyard manager, then vineyard manager, then a recognized professional in her sector.

In the meantime, her life requires a certain discipline. Every evening after finishing at the vineyard, on Friday afternoons, and sometimes on weekends, she studies and revises. “I realized that I knew a lot of things,” she smiles. “But I’m also learning a lot, about soil, for example. And Sabrina lets me do a bit of work at the cellar.” She now has a greater understanding – and appreciation – of wine.

Today, Fany is a team leader on Cassena. The Boston years are still fresh in her mind, but she has gained perspective on the place she both works and lives. “It’s a physical job; you have to deal with the weather, and aches and pains are part of life. But I love being out here, seeing insects and flowers everywhere. Being in contact with living things, respecting nature, that’s what I’m all about.” She works a lot, and enjoys spending time with her family, nephews, and nieces. She doesn’t really give herself the time to do anything else. But when she is not “getting distracted by a butterfly,” she also enjoys reading, both fantasy novels and the classics, “to develop my general knowledge, and because I like to know what they’re about.” Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was a recent favorite.

“I’ve made my home at Palmer. And I’m proud of it”
‍Fany Nunes — vigneronne

Throughout our conversation, Fany lists the reasons she is so lucky. She has been lucky enough to afford to go back to school at 32, to work with biodynamic methods at Palmer, to lead a young team with whom she enjoys working. And even to have a smaller stature – “an advantage for a winegrower!” She lets out a tinkling, mischievous laugh. She has the almost lined features of someone who has smiled a lot after enduring great suffering. She would like to stay at Palmer. “I’ve made my home here, I’ve put my all into it. It’s very rewarding to work here,” she says. “And I’m proud of it.” Almost like a label that, this time, she is happy to be associated with.

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