The À Table Project!

À Table! is one of our major campaigns to raise awareness about PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus), a type of basal ganglia encephalitis triggered by strep and characterized by neuropsychiatric symptoms.  Our hope is that you take this bottle of wine to the table (or other type of gathering) to share with friends and family. Coming to the table was our family tradition.  It’s where we three – along with many of our friends and family – recounted our day’s activities, expressed our joys and our disappointments, solved problems, talked politics, and had many laughs.

We hope the bottle engenders conversation lively conversation at your table, too. We hope that you are moved to raise your glasses and toast to our daughter Alex and to all others who are struggling with PANDAS with the commitment to spread the word about PANDAS and the broader disorder, PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome).  

Originally, À Table! included a two-pronged approach to raising awareness about PANDAS and PANS.  One prong involved fund-raising dinner parties to be hosted by friends and family around the U.S. (and beyond).   We had already planned with hosts around the United States and beyond, including France, Sweden, Morocco, and Canada. The idea was that the wine would be served at the dinners, sparking conversations and awareness about PANDAS and PANS. That is, guests would learn about PANDAS and PANS à table and then return home with bottles to share with their friends, thereby continuing to spread the word about PANDAS and PANS. 

We had to scrap the hosted-dinner part of the plan when COVID-19 raised its ugly head and a full-fledged pandemic ensued, keeping most of us tethered to our own tables.  We hope we will be able to carry out this part of the campaign in the not-too-distant future. (Please let us know if you would like more information about hosting an À Table! dinner in the future.)

Proceeds from À Table! will go toward research in this area. Please visit: TheAlexManfullFund.org 

À Table! was conceived in Lourmarin, a tiny village in Provence, and matured in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where Alex was born and raised. We are indebted to many people who made this happen:

Gérard & Christine Isirdi, owners of the Isirdi Gallery in Lourmarin. Gérard painted the image that became the label.
Madeleine Premmereur, owner of Château Barbebelle.
Jacques Navarre who was instrumental in importing the wine.
Martin Kolk, President of Vinilandia NH, a local wine and spirits distributor.
Rick & Robin Meyerkopf, owners of South Street and Vine in Portsmouth, NH.
Hervé Giustiniani, owner of De la Cuisine Au 20, wine and épicerie in Lourmarin.
Susan Kress Hamilton, who designed the lower label and this booklet.
Patrick Walsh, owner of Provence Wine Imports, the current importer for Alex’s wine.

About the Wine Label

The label depicts Alex walking through Lourmarin, the charming Provençal village that she so dearly loved and where she said she felt most herself.

Gérard Isirdi, local painter with an extensive international following, created the original gouache from which the label is made. Gérard’s iconic scenes of village life, especially as observed from Café Gaby, are revered around the world. Several of his paintings grace the walls of our home.

Gérard Isirdi and Alex Manfull at his studio in Lourmarin

Alex and Gérard developed a relationship that solidified during our six-month sojourn in Lourmarin. Alex was just seven years old when she had the pleasure of painting with Gérard at Café Gaby. As she grew older, she loved to stop by Gérard’s atelier on rue Henri de Savornin to catch up with him and his wife Christine.

Gérard thinks her spirit visits Lourmarin. We like to think she does, as well.

How to Buy Alex’s Wine

Château Barbebelle (2017) Cuvée Madeleine Rouge wine – affectionately known as “Alex’s wine” – is available for purchase but very few cases are left!

Here are the details….

  • If you live in the Boston area – we are thrilled to report that the wine is now available for sale at The Cork Stop at 1593 Osgood Street, North Andover, MA. The Cork Stop will deliver to most communities in the Boston area; please call (978) 655-8699 to inquire about delivery options. Or, pop in to pick up a bottle and see their highly curated selection of wines!
  • If you live outside the Boston area we are very excited to tell you that the wine can be shipped through The Cork Stop’s online store, Urban Wine Club. The wine will be sent to you via FedEx (assuming your state allows for home wine delivery). To order your wine online, please visit www.urbanwineclub.co

Alex’s wine makes a lovely holiday gift…and you will be contributing to our awareness campaign by sharing this bottle with others! Your wine purchase is not tax deductible but proceeds from the sale of this wine will be donated to The Alex Manfull Memorial Fund. Proceeds from this campaign will support awareness, education and research in PANDAS/PANS (also referred to as post-infectious neuroimmune disorder and basal ganglia encephalitis).