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Wine roads are pilgrimage routes for wine lovers. Unlike the St. James routes, they do not lead to a specific destination and only rarely to a precisely defined place of pilgrimage. The motto of life of so many disoriented contemporaries - "the way is the goal" - is for once concretely formulated here, not spiritually interpreted, as it has been (at the latest) since Confucius with so many bringers of salvation. The way, that is here the vineyards, landscapes, wineries, the historical witnesses, vines, the soil, the wine. The "pilgrim's path" that I recently walked "without peas in my shoes" leads through the Périgord.

Along the wine route in the Périgord (Photo: P. Züllig)

Bergerac, the second largest town in the département, is the starting point for any wine discovery trip along the Dordogne, as the wine regions are located in this western part of the administrative district around Bergerac. It is a historical, but also a young wine-growing area. Historic because it was here that the English Crown (1154-1353) asserted its trading and viticultural interests for 300 years, and because after the 100 Years War (and later due to the Huguenot expulsions) there was a lively wine trade with Holland, so that sweet wine (Monbazillac) in particular became very important. This is illustrated by an anecdote that is still told in Périgord today: Once a pilgrim from Bergerac was presented to the Pope in an audience. The Pope is said to have said to him, "Ah! From Bergerac, near Monbazillac!"

The wine region is young because phylloxera also caused viticulture to almost completely cease here, and a reorientation has only taken place in the last century, and in the case of red wine even in the last few decades, and it will probably never again attain the greatness and importance it once had.

Vineyards in Monbazillac (Photo: P. Züllig)

Monbazillac, south of Bergerac, still presents itself as a large, closed cultivation area. Here the vineyards are densely packed together, one has the impression of a large wine region, as we know it from the Bordelais or even from the southern Languedoc. The foie gras - present everywhere in the Périgord - is just asking for a good quality, independent sweet wine. Why look in Bordeaux, Bergerac's arch-rival? A wine à la Sauternes can also be made in the Dordogne, it is not quite as famous as the Sauternes, but in many cases just as good, sometimes even better. For here, quality still has to be struggled for in order to survive in the fierce competition among French botrytis wines. To find one's way among the many sweet wines offered here is not quite easy, as the names - outside of France - are almost unknown.

The large offer of sweet wines in Monbazillac (Photo: P. Züllig)

So I do it like almost every tourist
I buy a name that sounds familiar to me
"Ainsi soit-il," which means "So be it" or the ecclesiastical "Amen" (2005 Château Montdoyen, Monbazillac). Since I, like most wine pilgrims, am travelling by car, a critical tasting will take place only later, at home (I will, of course, write a "drunk" about it in the forum).

Now, however, I have to break away from the idea of encountering a compact wine region along the Wine Road. Actually, it's more historical relics that surround me. For example - only a few kilometers away from Bergerac - the village Sainte-Foy des Vignes, the holy Fides, which lives on here in the middle of the vineyards, at least in the church memory. Although there are wineries here, the place tends to appear in estate agents' advertisements rather than wine merchants. But the winding drive - along back roads - up to the little church is worth it. This is where the "old wine Périgord" is still at home.

The little church of Sainte-Foy des Vignes (Photo: P. Züllig)

Wine-wise, we are already in the "newer" wine region, where the best red wines of the region are made under the name of Pécharmant. Beautiful, fruity, powerful wines that are quite equal to many Bordeaux. What I like about it is not only the price for the good quality, but above all the originality. The soil (marl, limestone, ferruginous rock) gives the wine a special, almost rustic character, which, however, with cultivated vinification - not by wood or high technology - becomes a smooth, elegant aroma-rich and pure-toned wine.

Memory of a beautiful summer evening in the alleys of Bergerac (Photo: P. Züllig)

I admit, until now I had hardly noticed this wine region - as a red wine region. On a visit to a château, I remember a wonderful evening in the old town of Bergerac, with excellent food and superb wine. At home, I rummage through the memory pictures, and lo and behold, there is a Pécharmant on the table, which I found so good and fitting to the food at that time.

Pilgrims' roads are tough, there is little time to linger. Even if there is no specific destination on the wine roads - no shrine to the saints, anyway - there are places of pilgrimage. So I finally passed by a place of history, the Château Michel de Montaigne. It's a veritable chateau, not just the name for a French winery. It's a chateau where a famous man once lived. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a politician, philosopher and writer. His flights of intellectual fancy in his essays may be anathema to students in French class, but his accomplishments as a politician and advisor to kings are historically recognized. So a shrine to healing on the way after all? The "magic" of place - where world history was once written - is also found on wine roads, not just in Périgord.

The Château de Montaigne - only the tower where Montaigne worked - is still original. Today, the château belongs - in succession - to Cécil Mähler-Besse, and thus, we unexpectedly get into the wider environment of the great Bordeaux wines, as they were and are coined by the famous Mähler-Besse trading house. There is no time to explore the pedigree in more detail, not even enough time to taste the wine. Another souvenir - this time a real château souvenir, because the château is also a winery - goes into my luggage.

A view from the room% Montaigne once lived in (Photo: P. Züllig)

Now the bottle is in front of me. Vintage 1996, so in Bordeaux-worthy age. Decanting is essential, we were told in the shop, where today tourists interested in history rather than wine pilgrims pass by. On wine roads, you can find everything: historical witnesses, excellent wines, even "holy" places. And it's like any pilgrimage: You are only a wanderer for a time. And time passes and the way remains the goal. Also on my next wine pilgrimage, probably in a completely different area.

Cordially
Yours/Yours

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