St Mont Wine Festival

Down in deepest South West France you can enjoy the St Mont wine festival (32 Gers, Occitanie) 22 – 24 March 2024

Saint Mont’s two hundred winegrowers welcome visitors to their appellation for a three-day wine festival: ‘Saint Mont Vignoble en Fête’.

The festival is the perfect opportunity to taste Saint Mont’s new vintages; to visit the cellars; to gain a rare insight into the closely guarded secrets of the chateaux wineries; to discover the fabulous historical heritage of Saint Mont … basically, the wine festival is a great opportunity to get to know us, the people behind the wines, our terroirs and the values we hold dear.

However, in the Gers it is impossible to disassociate wine and gastronomy so that’s where the Michelin-starred chefs step in, happy to pour their talent into the creation of exceptional dishes made entirely from local produce and accompanied by Saint Mont wines. “The epic story of Saint-Mont vineyards began in the fourth century BC, when first plants were imported by the Greeks” . In 1050 the Saint-Mont Abbey was founded by Benedictine monks. who often seem to be attracted to wine-making and so the appellation developed and these ‘fine wines from Gascony’ were exported to the United Kingdom as early as the 14th century.

Today the appellation is dominated by the Plaimont Co-operative, one of the best, most innovative co-ops in France, where production is lead by consideration of quality rather than quantity.
Local grape varieties dominate – St Mont reds and rose ae made from Tannat, Pinenc, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon; the whites from Arrufiac, Petit Courbu, Petit and Gros Manseng, Colombard and Ugni-Blanc. The reds tend towards the tannic, albeit with good fruit balance; the whites are fresh and crisp – I have never been disappointed with any wine from Plaimont, and in my time I have sampled a few!
Numerous festivities take place over this weekend, including wine tasting, discovery trails, music and dancing! – see www.plaimont.com