Yes, like you I enjoyed the ‘wine runs’, especially when they involved wondering up the Loire valley picking up a couple of pallets here, half a pallet there from the small-holdings, little vineyards and farmsteads. As you say, you always got a couple of good bottles and a chat! Fond memories.
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My personal record was about 45 collections, but 6 to12 was more common.
Most in a short time was 10 collections in a morning. That was Sancerre where the vignerons had all the docs ready, and 4 were in the same village road. And let’s be fair, our office was very good at notifying all, and the 1st vigneron phoned the others for me.
Wine groupage got me off the main roads and onto gravel tracks more than once. Much more involving than m-way bashing. Given a list of collections with phone numbers meant we could arrange some out of hours collections too. Really interesting and involving work.
Loved it.
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Never did that, and not sure I would appreciate so many collections, but my wine story comes from Italy.
Directed to collect from a large wine producer I was told to drive into a very large, but empty warehouse and to park on the weighbridge in the middle of the floor, then open the back of the tilt.
I did as I was told, and stood aside wondering when they would take the weight and send me to the loading area when, to my amazement, and no little alarm, I saw my wagon slowly descend into the floor. It stopped precisely when the bed was level with it and a couple of fork trucks arrived to drive inside with all my pallets.
Never saw such a thing again, but very memorable. 
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The multi pick-up was good work IMHO, but you did need to mentally get into a different mind set if used to two day runs between drops or collections.
Sometimes it would be several collections in one area, but on other occasions more of a string of jobs.
Example: 3 trucks all tipping around Marseille Tuesday morning.
Rather than have one spend 2 days working there each would make 2 or 3 collections in the afternoon, than all would run a bit north to make more collections up the Rhone valley the next day, and then more north of Lyon.
That beats one truck spending too long sweeping up all the collections around 13 and only heading up when full loaded days later.
Days are more split between collect/drive rather than be all collection, or all drive.
Normally time to find a decent Routiers resto, and normally no need for an early start, once on collections.
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Spot on! Normally, especially with a tilt, I preferred a single full load, seal up and go. But the wine groupage was the single exception. There was an indefinable charm to it. And as you suggest, if you lined up your Les Routier stops with your itinery, it was a pleasant way of life!
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I’m not remotely related to a sommelier myself, but I do know synthetic corks have been used for some time (decades?) here in Oz: ditto screw-caps. Years ago, lots of people (including good friends) used to get quite sniffy about ‘New World’ wines (i.e. US, Oz, NZ, Saffrica).
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For one thing, if synthetic stoppers (or caps come to that) do the job just as well, perhaps we can leave trees (esp. Quercus suber) alone.
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Well over 20 years ago I met an Aussie girl who was working in Bx to learn the way make wine.
A few years ago I was speaking to a young vigneron near Carcassonne who spoke English with an Aussie accent. He was a Frenchman who had spent a few years in Ais learning from them.
Seems that wine making is different countries leap-frogging each other and advancing in technique all the time.
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There’s a regular drop I do to a vineyard around where I live (central west NSW): I’ve met many a Spanish or Italian or French native. Cross-pollination is a great thing.
We live 15 kms from Sancerre, and I often drive through Chavignol, where there are regular trafic jams cvaused by truck loading wine.
Never heard of that way of loading before! Interesting!
Is the Routiers still open just north of Malataverne?
That went through quite a few different hands, but the last couple there before Covid seemed to be in it for the long haul. I hope they did OK.
I guess you mean Maltaverne, opposite Sancerre? Just because there is also Malataverne also on the RN7 south of Montélimar.
Yes, it is still open and went throught several hands during the past 45 years. At a stage, some 20/30 years ago, it was even completely abandoned. Very handy because its just off the motorway; I maybe had lunch once or twice there, and no memory of it.
Yes that’s the one I meant.
From old B&W photos it was once a service station, with fuel pumps etc. A rectangular concrete building. I never saw it used as such though.
It was burnt out a few years back. I used it a fair bit because it seemed to have fairly secure parking, clean showers, and decent food.
Lovely area, we had loads of Sancerre and Pouilly collections around there.
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I perfectly remember when it burned. Very suspicious, it was said.
Today, many of the trucks collecting wine in the Sancerre/Pouilly area are registered in the Baltic countries.
A bit like the one on the old N 20 at La Loge, north of Vierzon. I took a picture of the completely gutted remains last year and put it up on here somewhere. Dark thoughts from some. 
There are the remains of the Relais de la Loge, seen in 2022.
Maybe some of you remeber the big truckstop on the RN 7 North of Villeneuve sur Allier? It was burned down some 20/25 years ago.I had lunch a few times there, and have the recollection of hunting trophies; deer and wild pig heads, pheasants, hares…
Since then, it was repaired, but is now abandoned.
Yes, just the same as I saw it in June last year. I was going to stop there northbound but was in no rush so stopped at La Grotte at Vierzon instead, Good job too the next one was north of Orleans. One of the French drivers I dined with that night told me it was ‘brulee’.
I had used the place for many years, always cut out the Autoroute on the way to Paris, but in the early days it wasn’t used, we used to eat on this side of the road opposite.
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Reminds me of when ‘the Flintstones’ at Bedenac on the N10 burnt down in the early 2000s
Aye.
Makes one wonder what the fire insurance premium must be on restos?
Seems to be e very hazardous business!
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