Above the gurge of the river came another faint horn sound.

Subi Gurge, a financial consultant, was puffing a Honduran Padron as he sat with 11 colleagues under the bar's ornate stairway.

One of Mr. Gurge's colleagues, who gave his name only as Eric, said: "Americans shouldn't smoke Cubans because that's supporting the Cuban Government," he said.

As they lay in the evergreens, Perry became aware of the distant gurge of a great churn of tumbling water, and when he asked about it, Delk replied, "It is Durek's Wheel, the Vorvor."

The estate is run by Claire Villars-Lurton, manager of Château Haut-Bages-Liberal and Château La Gurge, and wife of Gonzague Lurton, owner of Château Durfort-Vivens.