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Letters from abroad: Gascony, France
by David Reay-Scott
(A humanHi SELECT location)
Sometimes in life an opportunity comes your way, in which you would be mad not to accept and move everything to fit it in. My recent trip to Gascony in France was such an opportunity. I was invited by my good friend Laurent Bergmann, an independent wine wholesaler who represents our hosts for the 3 day trip, Plaimont Wines, one of the largest and well respected wine houses in all France.
The trip was to represent the whole of the United Kingdom along with a collection of European, Michelin star restaurateurs, award winning sommeliers and journalists in selecting the 2007 vintage for one of their premium wines, Le Faite Blanc and the 2006 vintage for Le Faite Rouge.
We flew out on Sunday 14th September at the unearthly time of 7.35am from Gatwick courtesy of Ryanair to Toulouse. I feel the need to share with you all at this point I had not actually managed to get to sleep on Saturday night due to organising and running a birthday bash, so I drove straight to the airport after the party.
We arrived in Toulouse some what jaded, where we were met by Fanny Sucré, Plaimont's UK sales development manager. She had hired us a rather nice big car for our journey west to Eugénie-Les-Bains. Soon the 3 musketeers, Laurent, Claude and I were off on our great wine adventure, incidentally Gascony is D'Artagnan country.
Half way into our travels, through some of the most beautiful French countryside we decided to stop and recharge our batteries at the stunning Le Château de Larroque in Gimont. We sat on the terrace in 25 degrees centigrade, sipping our aperitifs before we dined on the most delightful 3 course lunch including amuse bouche, water, wine and coffee with petit four, all for 85 euros. God I forget how great the food and wine is in France along with being better value for your money.
After our leisurely drive we arrived at our destination, the absolutely stunning town of Eugénie-Les-Bains home to one of France's most famous 3 Michelin star chefs Michel Guérard. Monsieur Guérard actually owns most of the village, 2 hotels (Les Prés d'Eugénie-Relais Chateaux and La Maison Rose) 2 restaurants (Le Couvent des Herbes-3 Michelin stars and Les Logis des Grives) and 2 health spas (La Ferme Thermale) a sort of upmarket gastronomic theme park.
We stayed in the rather lovely and smaller La Maison Rose; the hotel designed in very Hampton's, New England décor, bright, fresh, extremely comfortable and welcoming.
A quick change and a beer with the very charming Monsieur André Dubosc, founder of Plaimont wines and off we go to meet the rest of the judges for another gastronomic delight prepared by chef patron of Le Château de Projan, Monsieur Richard Poullain and washed down with some of Plaimont's fabulous wines and Armagnac's.
The day of judgement had arrived, the convoy headed for the small picturesque town of Saint-Mont, the home of Plaimont wine. After a short tour of the old Benedictine Monastery and history lesson on Plaimont wines we headed for the tasting house.
At the top table sat the guest judges of honour, Monsieur Jean-Luc Pouteau, top sommelier in France 1976 and the world 1983. Ms Joanna Simon MW, wine journalist for Decanter Magazine and the Sunday Times. We all had 6 whites and 6 reds to taste with scoring sheets for each wine. The process was quite intense as the outcome would result in mass production of the chosen wines for the 2007 vintage, no pressure then! The results were announced to great ceremony; the French press and radio were in attendance to record this great occasion. I am happy to report that the wines I picked were the ones that were the overall winners, can't wait to get my hands on the first few bottles.
Well off we go again to the beautiful village of Manciet for another fantastic gourmet meal and wine at La Bonne Auberge restaurant. We were then shuttled off to visit some of the oldest vineyards in the region, estimated at over 350 years old, before heading off for dinner, yes even more delicious food and wine served in another great restaurant. Our last day had unfortunately arrived. We visited our last vineyard near Viella owned by Frederick and his family and got to prune the vines before going for, yes! another amazing lunch and great wines at Le Château de Projan. We waved goodbye to the Dutch and Belgians, most of the French had left before lunch, while they could still stand. We thanked our most gracious hosts Monsieur Dubosc, Fabien Fanny and Frederick before heading off into the sunset on another beautiful sunny day.
On our return journey we made a pit stop at the production plant and wine shop to stock up on our supplies before completing the last lap to the airport.
This was my first trip to Gascony and I have to say the people and the beauty of the region left a mark on me, the warmth, passion and zest for life and the grape is infectious. I will return.
Nearest airport is PAU, flying with Ryanair from Stansted
La Maison Rose, doubles start at 110 euros per room
www.michelguerard.com
Le Château de Projan, doubles start at 95 euros per room
www.chateau-de-projan.com