France Day Eight - Wine - Part Two

After our second stop, we loaded up and continued our wine tour.  In contrast to Domaine Gayda, the third stop was at a small sixth-generation winery, Chateau Guilhem, founded in 1878.  Bertrand Gourdou, the proprietor, gave us a tour of the winery and told us about its history.  Located in the heart of Malvies, and overlooking the Pyrenees, it was built at the end of the 18th century.  The property was owned by his mother's side of the family.  Bertrand, the only son, had moved to Paris, where he worked as a wine exporter.  His mother called to tell him she had decided to sell the winery, and that she had a buyer.  Apparently, all thoughts of Paris abruptly left him, and he left the next day for home.  He walked in as the notarie (attorney) was presenting the closing documents for signature.  His surprised mother said, "Bertrand, what are you doing here?" and Bertrand replied that he had returned to run the business, thus keeping it in the family.  The wine is not sold in the United States.  Bertrand told us he's already sold everything from this season, and life is good.  His wife is expecting their first child in December, so there is an excellent chance the Chateau will remain in the family...

 Bertrand has the original journals of his great-grandfather, detailing each day's work.

 

 After tasting some of this excellent wine, Jean-luc loaded us into the van once again, and we continued meandering down more country roads.

 

Our last stop was a visit to a local micro-winery, Domaine Villarzens, where we were welcomed by owner Thierry Gravelle, and his wife Eve. After a tour of the vineyards and the property, we sat down at their table and enjoyed a spectacular tasting, as well as wonderful appetizers prepared by Eve.

 

 

Here's Herman, the Domaine dog!

 

All in all, it was a fitting end to a spectacular day.  It was dark as we returned to Maison Juliette, and it was a nice change to have someone else do the driving! Jean-luc is also a talented musician, and we listed to some of his music on the drive home. Thanks to him, we met so many wonderful people, and we learned a lot about the local wines.  The day was one of the high points of our trip to southwestern France.  If you ever have the opportunity to travel there, let me know, and I will send you the contact information for this amazing tour. 

 

 

 

France Day Eight - Wine - Part One

Poor Nancy has been driving us around all week long, careening around round-abouts, looking out for one-way streets, keeping an eye on pedestrians, bikes and scooters.  We decided she needed a break.  Lucky for us, we found just the thing in the way of a recommendation written in Maison Juliette's guest book:  Vin & Company.  It was a bit of a splurge for us, but worth every penny.  Our bilingual wine expert and tour guide, Jean Luc, rang our doorbell on Friday morning, promptly at 10 a.m.

After loading us up in his van, we started the day with a drive to Saint-Hilaire.  A very small town, it is known for its formerly fortified Benedictine abbey, and as the birthplace of the first sparkling wine in 1531.  Legend has it that Dom Perignon lived there, but was kicked out of the abbey for embezzling.  He left vowing to invent his own sparkling wine, which obviously he did.  We met with abbey historian, Fabian, who gave us a detailed tour of the grounds, including the church, the abbot's apartments, and the cellars where the sparkling wine was invented.  After the tour was completed, we tasted some of the sparkling wine from Jean Luc's village in the abbey's cellar.

Our next stop was Domaine Gayda a relatively new winery in Brugairolles, which also has a wine school, and a modern French restaurant overlooking the property.  We started with a tour of the winery, followed by a tasting, lunch, and a final tasting of dessert wines.  It was incredible.

 

 

 Nancy and John enjoying the wine tasting.

We had the pleasure of having one of Gayda's interns host our tasting.  From England, she's spending a year abroad in conjunction with her university studies.  The first six months are being spent in France, with the last half in Russia.

 We met Tim Ford, one of the co-owners of Gayda.

 Up the stairs to the restaurant.

 My lunch started with a shrimp appetizer, followed by salmon.

 Dessert paired fresh chopped apples with nuts and pastry.

 

I'll post the second half of the day tomorrow...there's too much for one post! Thanks again for joining me!