Every child in France knows the most famous Bergerac man, who was not born in Bergerac and never lived there: Cyrano de Bergerac, the man with the long nose. His mockery is famous and his fantasy journeys to the moon and sun are legendary. But he has become world famous since Gérard Depardieu portrayed the character on screen. Bergerac as a wine region, on the other hand - once almost as famous as Bordeaux - has long since lost its lustre.
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| Cyrano monument in Bergerac% whose nose is chopped off every year in a schoolboy ritual. |
I must confess: while I have been to the Bordelais so many times, making pilgrimages from château to château, I have always left Bergerac to the left or to the right, even though the little town lies on the Bordeaux River Dordogne and is barely 100 kilometres from Bordeaux. Only now the programme of a group tour requires us to stop in Bergerac before we move into the "promised land" of St-Emilion and later into the Haut-Médoc. So it is not to my credit that I now know at least two wineries whose names I have read but whose wines I have never drunk. I can't avoid the direct comparison with Bordeaux - I admit this too - and it doesn't come out so badly!
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| Restoration in the narrow romantic streets of the old town of Bergerac |
Already the four wines from the region that accompany the meal in a good restaurant in the city centre - all reds - make my scepticism waver: Is Bergerac really stepping out of Bordeaux's shadow? Four wines and two visits to a winemaker are far from proof. Maybe Cyrano, the fake Bergeracer, is just showing me his long nose! But the poetic names of the wines alone raise my hopes that I will get something fine, sounding, independent in my glass, not just a rough copy of the mostly outdated "Bordeaux blends". L'extase" from the Domaine de "L'ancienne cure" is the beginning of my short discovery stay in Bergerac. I ordered the wine solely because of its promising name, and the price is also an indication that it must be a good wine. 35 euros - albeit in a restaurant - is already a decent price for a venture whose outcome I don't know. An age-old life lesson comes true: "Who dares wins!". Hooray - I won! Bordeaux has already greeted me in Bergerac. The "ecstasy" consists of what we call a Bordeaux assemblage: a cuvée of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The tannins are already well polished, the wood finely integrated, the aromas powerful and complex. Is it really another 100 kilometres to Bordeaux?
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| Francis de Conti describes the principles of organic farming |
My second attempt is also to be a test. The name is again the deciding factor. This time it is a reference to Marcel Pagnol's "La gloire de mon père" - "My father's honour" - a literary childhood memory. The wine with this poetic name comes from "La tour des gendres", one of the leading wineries in the region, I am told. And again - without the slightest idea - I have made a good choice: fresh, elegant, with beautiful cassis aromas, St-Julien sends its regards. Could it be that the famous Château Ducru Beaucaillou, which we will visit in a few days, sends its shine ahead, all the way to distant Bergerac? Until this moment, I hadn't registered that a visit to the winery "La tour des gendres" was scheduled for the next day. The name simply meant nothing to me - the Bordeaux-heavy wine lover. But in the south of Bergerac, the winery welcomed us and explained its philosophy - biodynamic orientation. Lush green on the vines, proud upright vines with many protective foliage, semi-protected - at least in the hottest time - the grape. I am impressed, once again breaking down some of my scepticism. Biodynamics does have its logic and probably also its power and significance.
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| Vines on the "Tour de Gendres"% vineyard still densely planted with vegetation. |
Who can blame me for looking for the sequel to the famous Pagnol trilogy: "Le Château de ma mère" - "My Mother's Castle". Searched in vain, this wine does not exist. It is the "Mill of the Ladies", on the other hand, that impresses me. The estate's top wine, which convinces above all with its fruit and minerality. Now, at the latest, Bergerac enters my consciousness not only through its literary echoes, but also as a wine country in its own right. These are only hints, only traces, which I hope will soon become more solid. The second visit to the château has done just that, for it is no less impressive than the first. The wines, however, cannot be compared. In Monbazillac, where Château "Tirecul La Gravière" is located, almost exclusively sweet wines are pressed, based on berries affected by botrytis cinerea.
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| Barrel cellar of Château "Tirecul La Gravière" with owner Bruno Bilancini. |
Again my scepticism: what can Bergerac - Monbazillac to be precise - do against the world-famous Sauternes? No chance? No, the chances are excellent, the wines - at least from this winery - hold their own, even leaving some famous Sauternes far behind in their elegance and minerality, in their aromatics and cultivated sweetness. Why haven't I noticed Bergerac as a wine region long ago? Probably because - until about thirty years ago - only mass-produced wines and wines by the dozen were made here. Because the shadow of Bordeaux was too long and too big. Only now is Bergerac - perhaps - able to step out of the shadow, to take a little of the sun of the southwest. In any case, the wine suns have touched me. But, the itinerary is set, already we are moving on again. Where to? To Bordeaux, of course. After this - my first - experience, almost a pity!
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