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Now, I thought I knew Bergerac and its wines pretty well, having imported their wines from the earliest days of Allez Vins!, and numerous visits over the last 20 years or so. But truth be told, I probably know about a dozen vineyards in any detail, and I am a fan of the wines of the region which tend to be consistently good (with the exception of some cheap supermarket versions) and usually great value.

However, my knowledge and passion for the region is completely overshadowed by Phil Hargreaves and his new book The Wines of Bergerac. This is a comprehensive and authorative guide to the 13 appellations (including Montravel, Pecharmant, Rosette, Monbazillac and Saussignac)and to ove 90 producers, each of which has a full page full of details of location, opening times, the nature of the “terroir”, how the grapes are grown and how the wine is made - plus details of UK stockists, contact details and tasting notes!

This has clearly been a labour of love, as I cannot imagine that anyone could do justice to more than a couple of vineyards a day to produce this amount of reliable detail -as always I checked out his entries on domaines which I know well such as Chateau Grinou, Chateau Haut Garrigue and Chateau Beauportail, and the entries are spot on! I share his affection for the Merlot and Cabernet reds, Sauvignon and Semillon dry and sweeter whites. His secret has been his career as a linguist and wine merchant - but also his sheer enthusiasm for the wines of Bergerac.

“..my love affair with the Dordogne started some 40 years ago when I was a student in Perigueux in 1968 . A few years later, my late father-in-law introduced me to the wines of Cahors and Bergerac and the seed was sown for an interest in wines that would lead to twenty years in the wine trade and ultimately, this little book.
1 have personally visited the vast majority of the producers in this guide and wines from every
winernaker included have been tasted by myself and my tasting team, drawn from friends and
colleagues at the Hengate Wine School and the Premier Cru Wine Club, based in Beverley,
East Yorkshire. I have resisted the temptation to give wines a star rating as I recognise that
taste in wine is a very personal thing and it does not pay to be too dogmatic. However, I hope
the tasting comments will help you establish which wines will most appeal to you.

There’s plenty of background to the region and its wines in addition to the individual producers’ pages, which makes the book both readable and an indispensible guide to visiting the region and its vineyards - I will certainly be taking a copy with me on my next trip to the Dordogne!

For more info on Phil Hargreaves, Hengate Wine School and the book “The Wines of Bergerac” see www.hengatewineschool.co.uk

The official launch of new guide “The Wines of Bergerac” will take place on Friday 26 September at 6 p.m. at Beverley Arms Hotel, Beverley, East Yorkshire. Book signing and free Bergerac tasting - see www.hengatewineschool.co.uk

A personal favourite, Domaine Berthomieu is a small domaine (26 hectares) in the village of Viella (32 Gers, Midi-Pyrenees), in the north of the Madiran appellation. The domaine has been in the family since 1850 and Didier Barré is the 6th generation to own and run the domaine. Didier is a real enthusiast, passionate about his wines and respectful of the traditional character of the wine. The wines offer tremendous character and style, some of the best in the appellation. We were proud to submit his Madiran AC Cuvée Charles de Batz to the Wine Magazine International Wine Challenge, where it won a Gold Medal!

The domaine has two different plots - one on a pebbly, clay plateau to the west of the village facing south towards the Pyrenees, and the other a gravelly slope facing south east to the east of the village.

Many of the vines on the estate are between 40 and 100 years old. These older vines yield fewer grapes, but their long roots will extract more mineral character and trace elements.

See map location of Domaine Berthoumieu at Viella

He has a very good website at www.domaine-berthoumieu.com. Really well-presented with good photos, a lexicon of wine terms, details of the wines etc - but sadly only in French.
Amongst the things which caught my eye was a highly unusual red dessert wine , a”Vin de Liqueur” called TANATIS - made from late harvested (end of October) grapes. These are 100% Tannat (the Madiran grape) from vines which are more than 50 years old. After 10 days of maceration to extract colour and tannins from the flesh, skin and pips, the fermentation is prematurely stopped by the addition of spirit alcohol - in the same manner as the making of Port. This stops the conversion of sugar into alcohol and hence retains a natural sweetness in the wine. After ageing for 8 months in oak barrels it is bottled quite young, but it is claimed it will last up to 15 years in bottle. The tasting notes suggest highly concentrated flavours of wild berries, black berries and a touch of prunes. The French of course suggest it as an aperitif, but I prefer the idea of it accompanying a Chocolate Tart.
Tanatis - Vin de Liqueur du Sud Ouest from Domaine Berthoumieu.

For something rather less unusual, but an excellent white dessert wine - his Pacherenc du Vic Bilh “Symphonie d’Automne” is a stunner.