Guide Perigord_version anglaise

©LoicMazalrey

YohanDurand, long andmiddle distance running champion

“Working the vine takes endurance”

“Nowadays I live in Bergerac but I spent my childhood and adolescence in the peaceful village of Monbazillac where my parents are winegrowers.They produce white Monbazillac and red Bergerac wines at the Château Les Maules. I grew up in a winegrowing environment and I believe it shaped my personality.You need enthusiasm, hard work, perseverance… just like for running! I know every hillside, each path among the vines, every plot in the vineyards, because this is where I started to run. I return to Monbazillac as often as I can, to relax and restore my energy after training sessions or races. I even allow myself the odd glass of wine to keep my palate alive! I haven’t ruled out the idea of coming back here one day to work in the wine business.”

© Bertrand Rieger

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

Savour the World’s most Renowned Liqueur Wine

Weary Monks

© Bertrand Rieger

Do not visit Bergerac without going for a tasting session in one of the local wineries where Monbazillac sweet wine is produced! This beverage is an aromatic full-bodiedwine with honeyed, fruity yet spicy flavours. It’s made from a blend of three grape varieties (Semillon, Muscadelle and Sauvignon), grown by some 100 winegrowers in vineyards that stretch over8,000acres.Thegrapesarehandpickedandonlyoverripe grapes showing “noble rot” are harvested. Monbazillac can be enjoyed as an aperitif; it’s a perfect match for foie gras, blue- veined cheese or alternatively, a delicately flavoured dessert.

According to tradition, back in the Xth century, the monks of the Priory of Saint-Martin-de-Bergerac neglected their grapevines long enough to allow botrytis cinerea to develop.This is the fungus that produces the “noble rot” which has made Monbazillac’s wine famous.A story is told about a visitor to the Vatican in times gone by, who was introduced as a middle-class gentleman from Bergerac; to which the pope allegedly responded “Ah Bergerac, near Monbazillac, I believe!”

© Jean-Marc Barrère

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24+1VILLAGES OF PÉRIGORD