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The Bristol Wine and Food Fair (11-13 July 2008) seems to have been a great success - lots of interest and many interesting exhibitors, including the English-owned vineyard at Domaine Chater in the Côtes de Duras AC (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine):-

Domaine Chater is a small vineyard that nestles in the rolling hills around the historic town of Duras in South-West France. We are passionate about making great wines and no compromises are made in the vineyard or the winery. Our white wines are refreshing and full of fruit while our reds are complex with layers of fruit and spice. Our range of wines has already won a huge amount of international recognition.

Although they only began producing wine in 2004, they have enjoyed significant success in gaining recognition for the quality of their wines. The Cotes de Duras is particularly renown for its Sauvignon Blancs, which they do indeed produce good Sauvignon, but unusually for the region their Cabernet and Merlot reds have drawn most praise:-

….two styles of red wines are produced at Domaine Chater; traditional (a majority of the wine aged in our stainless steel tanks) and oak aged (made from old vines and aged in 100% French Oak). Our traditional wines have the emphasis upon rich fruit flavours with subtle tannins and are great with red meat dishes. Chater oak aged wines are made with 40-year old vines and barrel-aged for 12 months in French oak barrels with one-third of the barrels being renewed every year - producing complex wines with layers of fruit, liquorice and spice. Great with red meat and rich sauces.

Importantly their wines are consistently rated by the Guide Hachette des Vins de France - what many consider to be the French wine bible, as entries are secured by blind tastings rather than paid adverts.

You can order online direct from France as they have a UK warehouse - and you can visit the domaine in St Sernin-de-Duras - just give them a call beforehand to ensure someone is around.

Domaine Chater
Vignoble de la Lègue, 47120 St Sernin de Duras, France (see map)
T:0033 553 64 67 14
Email: info@domainechater.com

For more info on the Côtes de Duras wine region see www.cotesdeduras.com

For the diary; Domaine Chater will be at the Duras Wine Festival on 10 August 2008 - see www.paysdeduras.com

The elegant city of Montauban gets its streets filled with Jazz for its 5 week long Fesitval de Jazz from 3 July to 9 August 2008 – and there will be other attractions such as the opportunity to taste the wines of the Cotes de Brulhois AC which come from just south of Agen (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine) and are red wines based on Tannat, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet and Fer Servadou grapes – a potentially rustic blend which can produce some seriously good reds.

From 26 to 29 June 2008 , a “wine road” will run along the Garonne river from the historic city centre of Bordeaux through the heart of the Bordeaux region’s vineyards, with wine and local food tastings, son-et-lumiere, music and firework displays.

A €13.00 euro (£11) wine pass will buy you 12 wine tastings, while a €70 euro (£58) pass will cover access to nine tasting routes through the region’s vineyards, spread over the four days. So you can choose between St Emilion, the Medoc, Sauternes and Graves, Entre-Deux-Mers PLUS trips to explore the wines of BERGERAC and COTES DE DURAS.
Within the city there will be plenty of opportunities to celebrate, taste and learn. Discover the nuances of the region and the wide range of wines, styles and prices which are on offer. It’s not all finest vintage, wallet-busting stuff, but some really good value interesting wines.

Amongst the other attractions (beyond the City itself with its rich history and cultural heritage) there will be barrel-rolling competition, numerous parades by different wine guilds, music, dancing, a food and wine village - every day there will be racing on the river with some of the old boats which used to bring the wine into Bordeaux and up the Gironde and onto ocean-going ships for export; and a competition to swin across the Gironde - definitiely not recommended if you have been imbibing!

For more info see www.bordeaux-fete-le-vin.com

You can book direct with Rail Europe for Eurostar and TGV tickets from London to Bordeaux

Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times (12 May 08) talks about the growing number of Brits who have followed their dream and bought a vineyard in France.

It is hardly surprising then that a substantial proportion of the hundreds of thousands of Brits who own French property have been tempted by the apparently bucolic life of a vigneron……
Are there any French winemakers left down there?
I asked Walter McKinlay, whose Domaine de Mourchon southern Rhône wines are some of the most successful from a British domaine, whether his Domaine de Mourchon wines were financially viable. He frowned. “Just about,” he said cautiously, then smiled. “But it’s a lovely lifestyle though.”

My own observation would be that it can be incredibly hard work and despite the attractions of the climate, landscape and the French way of life, it can also be very stressful. And as with all winemakers, a bad harvest, particularly in the early years can be devastating.

So, here’s our list of British vineyard owners (and 1 Irish couple) - that we are aware of (not an exhaustive list I am sure). Visits can be much more informative if the language is no barrier:-

Domaine de Laroux - Cotes de Gascogne, Armagnac (32 Gers, Midi-Pyrenees) - Nick and Karen Kitchener
Chateau Haut Garrigue - Bergerac, Saussignac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - Sean and Caroline Feely (the Irish couple running an organic vineyard also known as Wild Earth Vineyards)
Domaine de Fontenay - Cote Roannaise AC (42 Loire, Rhone-Alpes) - Simon and Isabelle Hawkins

Chateau Richard - Bergerac, Saussignac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - Richard Doughty

Domaine de Merchien - Coteaux du Quercy and beer! (46 Lot, Midi-Pyrenees - David & Sarah Meakin

Clos d’Yvigne - Cotes de Bergeac, Saussignac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - Patricia Atkinson

Chateau des Milles Anges - Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Cadillac AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Heather van Ekris

Chateau Lezongars - Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Philip and Sarah Iles

Chateau Teyssier - Saint Emilion Grand Cru AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Jonathan and Lyn Maltus

Chateau de Sours - Bordeaux AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Esme & Sara Johnson

Domaine Gourdon - Cotes de Duras AC (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine) - John Coulthard
Domaine du Grand Mayne - Cotes de Duras AC (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine) - Andrew Gordon
Domaine de Begude - Limoux AC (11 Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon) - Catherine and James Kinglake
Domaine de Mourchon - Cotes du Rhone Seguret AC (84 Vaucluse, Provence) - Walter McKinley
Maison des Bulliats - Regnie AC Beaujolais (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) - Fred and Helen Lockwood
Chateau Méaume - Bordeaux Superieure AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Alan and Sue Johnson-Hill

Domaine a Sauvageonne - Coteaux du Languedoc AC, Vin de Pays d’Oc (34 Herault, Languedoc - Roussillon) - Gavin Crisfield

Domaine Sainte Rose - Vin de Pays d’Oc (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) - Charles and Ruth Simpson

Chateau Bauduc - Bordeaux AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Gavin and Angela Quinney

Domaine Sainte Croix - Corbieres AC (11 Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon) - Jon & Elizabeth Bowen

Chateau Monplaisir - Bergerac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - David and Helen Baxter

Regular readers will be aware the the Lot Valley in the South West of France features frequently in these pages - in many ways the essence of “deepest France”, it is less crowded than the Dordogne to the north and yet offers a wide variety of landscapes, pretty villages, great cuisine - and is home to the often under-rated Malbec-based wines of Cahors. Hence an essential recent purchase has been the revised edition of Helen Martin’s Book Lot: Travels Through a Limestone Landscape in SouthWest France, which is packed with insights, history and information on the Lot département (46) as part of the River’s journey from the Massif Central to its meeting with the Garonne near Aiguillon (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine).

Helen has kindly allowed us to print an extract of the section on Cahors and its wines…….
Lot: Travels Through a Limestone Landscape in SouthWest France

Chapter 8 The Lot Valley: West of Cahors
Below Cahors, the valley of the Lot belongs to the vignerons and the vineyards of the black wine of Cahors, châteaux-country in fact, but in times gone by it also belonged to the bishops of Cahors, who worked and played but mostly – in that great Christian tradition – fought along its banks.
Downstream of Luzech, the really wild cliffs you see to the east of Cahors become a thing of the past, replaced by gentler, graceful slopes, albeit with a certain grandeur to them, that, even though they may end in cliffs, are less formidable and are called cévennes. The river idles its way through the countryside in deep loops, or cingles, and was used as a major artery for transporting goods from the thirteenth century.
Along its banks grow the vines, and it was mostly the wine from these vineyards which used to be sailed downstream to the Garonne and Bordeaux and from thence to the world. The wine of Cahors may have had its ups and down in more recent times, but the Romans were making wine here in the third century and it had something of a reputation even then, so this river trade is very ancient. Finally, though, and in spite of the efforts of competitive Bordeaux wine-makers, it was phylloxera which put paid to the wine, and thus the trade, in the 1880s. By the time it had revived again, there were better means of transport. But even when the river was at the height of its usefulness, transportation was not always guaranteed. You would be surprised to know how many times the Lot froze right over in winter; the end of the eighteenth century was a particularly critical time – in 1766 it was frozen solid for two and a half months.
In the early nineteenth century, on a river much improved with the passage of time by locks and aids to navigation, 300,000 tonnes of freight was carried down it each year, including an astonishing 90 million bottles of wine – three times the number produced today. However, just as it was phylloxera that killed the river’s wine trade, so it was the coming of the railway that killed the river as a serious form of transport. In more recent years, though, it is coming to life again as leisure craft ply their way up and down, no doubt bringing new problems of pollution.
The villages along this western stretch of the river, unsurprisingly enough, are notable for their wine-producers’ houses – usually big and square with bolets or pigeonniers and sometimes both. You will notice, also, the use of decorative brickwork, the bricks being produced along the valley. Read more on this…

Buy at AllPosters.com

Information on domestic flights in France is not easy to come by, one reason being that Air France has such a dominant position in France and already have flights on most internal routes.
Plus the French market is not as competitive. The French Railway system between major cities is both fast and competitive, especially if starting from Paris.
I have only been able to uncover a couple of airlines which offer domestic flights in France:-
http://www.easyjet.com/ - Toulouse to Lyon, Paris, Nice to Paris; Lyon to Biarritz, Bordeaux; Biarritz to Paris

http://www.twinjet.net/
Toulouse (32 Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse, Brest; Marseille to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse; Paris - Perigueux, Cherbourg

http://www.airlinair.fr/ Brest,(29 Finistere, Brittany) Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine), Agen (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes), Poitiers (86 Vienne, Poitou-Charentes), Brive (19 Correze, Limousin) Beziers (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) etc

http://www.ryanair.com/ now also has links from Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) to Lille (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) and Brest (29 Finistere, Brittany)

You can try sites like http://www.expedia.fr/ but even a price comparison site like http://www.baisse-de-prix.com/voyages.php seems to offer little new – it looks like Air France have cornered the market with little opportunity for discounting.

The problem (and delight) of South West France is that there are so many areas to explore, and often renting a gite can be so delightful that getting out and exploring might be limited to the nearest town and trips for French Bread, a bar and an ocassional restaurant.
However, an English couple (Jason and Michelle) have established a Motorhome (or motor caravan as I used to call them) Hire centre at St Avit (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) south of Duras

(see map)

Evolution will plan your itinerary for you or advise you on your existing route. If you’re a lover of fishing, walking, wine tasting etc.a personalised route planner to suit your needs can be arranged for the duration of your vacation. We will provide details of recommended camp sites.

You’ll never get lost…
We provide an on-board ready-to-use GPS navigation system. We’re on-call with a 24/7 helpline with English spoken… We can provide liaison with reputable local property agents for those seeking to purchase property in the area. Cycle and leisure equipment hire is also available. Evolution caters for all-year round rental, with winter skiing resorts only a leisurely 3 hour drive south, a little further will take you to the winter warmth of Spain.

So you can avoid the long road trip through France, fly into Bergerac or Bordeaux or take the train - they will meet you at the airport or station and you’re off free to explore this rich and varied area.And with French number plates you might even get a bit more respect on the road!

For more info see www.evolutionmotorhomes.com

Our mini-series on visiting French vineyards (French Vineyard Visits and Visiting French WIneries) looked at the “etiquette” of visits and explored the range of different types of facilities on offer.
There is however another option - which is to visit one of the many local co-operative wineries. The advantage is that they are staffed throughout the day, usually have a lot of good value wines on offer and you can usually get wine “on draught”. If you buy a plastic 5 litre “cubitainer” you can get it filled up with wine for a ridiculously low price - or sometimes be able to purchase wine boxes of the local wine.
A broad generalisation would be that co-operative wines are less “exciting” than many of those made by small independent winemakers. However, whilst this may apply to many, especially in the south of France, others do produce high quality wines.

In Alsace, for example, many of the best wines are produced by co-ops such as Turckheim and will offer an excellent tasting and range of wines.

In the Loire Valley, the Cave des Producteurs de Vouvray has a wide range of wine styles on offer and an interesting visit through the underground cellars.

In the Southwest, the co-op at Buzet (les Vignerons de Buzet) led the re-creation of the vineyard and established the appellation’s reputation for good quality wines. The visit to the winery also includes a demonstration of cooperage (barrel-making).
Another example of how good a co-op can be is at Plaimont in Gascony, deep in the heart of Armagnac country. A wide range of great quality wines from simple Vins de Pays des Cotes de Gascogne through to rich Madiran reds.

At Marmande the visit will be more basic, but the Cotes du Marmandais wines are fine and good value for money,
In the Languedoc one of my favourite Co-operative cellars is in the small village of Embres-et-Castelmaure in the Corbieres - some truly excellent wines in a delightfful if rustic surroundings.
Finally in the Southern Rhone valley I’d recommend the Cave de Beaumes-de-Venise for their well-known dessert Muscat wine, but also some very good red Cotes du Rhone.

Cotes du Marmandais, 47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine (see map)
The Cotes du Marmandais is one of a number of small appellations south of Bergerac and east of Bordeaux, which major on the Bordeaux grape varieties, and which tend to be dominated by large co-operatives.
Whilst historically co-operatives have not always produced the best of wines, the situation is a little different where the co-op is the dominant producer, as here in Marmande. As such the co-op becomes the guardian of the appellation’s reputation and has a vested interest in producing good signature wines as well as bulk plonk. The Caves du Marmandais at Cocumont is one such example.
The appellation is based around the town of Marmande between Agen and Bordeaux on the Garonne (and A62 autoroute). Marmande is probably better known for its large “beef” tomatoes, but it does also produce some very decent wines, albeit not particularly distinctive.
Originally there were 2 co-ops, Cocumont and Beaupuy, one based on the south (or left) bank of the Garonne, the other on the north (right) bank. These merged a few years ago in the Cave du Marmandais.
The red and rose wines are based on Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot to a maximum of 75% of the blend. The balance must be made up with the local variety of Abouriou or Fer, or alternatively Gamay or Syrah. For white wines: Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, Ugni Blanc.
From the Co-op there is a wide range of good value wines - the best in our opinion being the Tap de Perbos - an oak-aged red with real finesse and power. Rick Stein in Rick Stein’s French Odyssey stocked up on wines from this co-op.

There are some independent producers who are gaining a decent reputation - e.g. Chateau de Beaulieu at Saint-Sauveur de Meilhan - see www.chateaudebeaulieu.net - available from www.southdownscellars.co.uk

A name gaining a great reputation and reviews from Jancis Robinson and others is Elian da Ros/Clos Baquey at Cocumont - stocked by Adnams (always a good indicator).

For more info on the Cave du Marmandais see www.origine-marmandais.fr

One of the features of the South West of France is the predominance of bastide towns - fortified villages which huddle together often at the top of a hill, and which prove quite effective at repelling unwanted invaders - historically mainly the English or the French, depending on which part of the country you were in and when. Bastide towns are characterised by a grid of narrow streets, closely packed houses and usually an impressive open square (place) with arcades round 4 sides and will often include a covered market hall. Over 300 were built over 150 years from the beginning of the 13th century.
Monflanquin (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) is one of the best preserved - although it is a living village not a museum or tourist attraction. And it does have its market day (Thursdays) and during the summer months there is also an evening market (marche nocturne) in the Place des Arcades.
Also in Monflanquin is the Musee des Bastides - see www.cc-monflanquinois.fr/musee_bastides.htm, an interesting little museum explaining the development and philosophy of the bastides - visit the museum and then see the real thing!
Monflanquin is recognised as one of the “Plus Beaux Villages de France” (most beautiful French villages)