The Picturesque town of Saint-Émilion
Wednesday 31 May – we’ve now started our road trip. After a heck of a lot of hassle at Bordeaux station trying to sort out our rental car which Geoff had previously booked and should have been an easy pick up…..almost one hour later we were finally on the road to Saint-Émilion.
We were soon in the beautiful French countryside, rolling hills of vineyards with blooming, fragrant and very colourful roses at the ends of their rows, châteaux and churches in what seemed like every little village we drove through, we finally arrived at the picturesque village of Saint-Émilion, a medieval city with a long history of wine-making, Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow cobbled streets. With vineyards making up more than 67% of the land area of the commune it promised to be a delectable few days!
We were booked into Au Logis des Remparts, an enchanting little hotel in the centre of the town on the fortified ramparts of the village, with the most magnificent wooded grounds and flowers, and a beautiful swimming pool, a rarity here. Andrew and Marie, friends of Geoff’s from Auckland were also holidaying in Bordeaux and made the 2 hour drive to come and meet us for lunch. We had telephoned a number of restaurants and châteaux in the area yesterday, but were unable to snag an outside table in any of them. I wasn’t keen on eating inside given the beautiful landscapes and the warm sunshine and because we knew that our hotel had an outside garden, we decided to go to the local supermarket and buy ourselves a picnic lunch. We met Andrew and Marie in the town square and off we went – pâtés, rillette, goats cheese, ham, baguettes, cornichons, mustard, followed by strawberries, raspberries and peaches for dessert, the perfect French gourmet picnic was purchased. Back to the hotel, a bottle of wine in an ice bucket and we spent a wonderful couple of hours in the pretty garden – far better than fine dining inside!
After Andrew and Marie left, Geoff and I had a walk through the village – it’s pretty small and easy to get around, we stopped in the Collegiate Church, built in 1110. The religious community that lived in these walls between the 12th and 18th century was a college of Canons and it is now the parish church of the village. We walked around the cloister which was the geographical and spiritual hub for the monastery, a closed place for prayer where the only exit is the one towards the sky, and the central garden was a symbol of the garden of Eden. The streets are small with so many cute little shops and it was a real pleasure wandering around. However, it was also very hot so we decided to pop back to our little hotel and have a nice cool swim before we headed out again for dinner.
We wandered back out to the Place de L’Église Monolithe via an incredibly steep, windy street, Tertre de la Tente (the steeple street) made of very raised rocks and shiny cobblestones. Fortunately it had handrails in the middle of it of it, but even in flat shoes, it was perilous for me as the slope was so steep and quite slippery. The monolithic church is an underground religious building dug inside the limestone plateau at the beginning of the 12th century to venerate and conserve the body of the 8th century Breton monk, Saint-Émilion. It is still consecrated today and regularly hosts religious ceremonies, and also induction ceremonies for the wine brotherhood of Saint-Émilion – La Jurade.
The town of course, is full of wine shops where you can learn about the different wines of the area and enjoy some tastings too – each shop has knowledgeable and passionate staff so we popped into a couple and partook of a few tastings prior to sitting in one of the lovely restaurants in the square next to the monolithic church, and enjoying yet another few glasses of wine with our dinner!
Thursday 1 June – a day visiting vineyards for us today. After having a delightful breakfast on our hotel terrace we decided to pop into the square and have another coffee whilst we planned our itinerary. En route we passed the famous Matthieu Mouliérac macaron store on that tricky steep street! This store has quite a history. In the 17th century when the vines didn’t cover all the slopes of Saint-Émilion, almond trees thrived here. The religious women of the village, the Ursulines, were in charge of the harvest and used the almonds for cakes that they cooked on the vine shoots. From generation to generation the recipe of this famous almond cake with its mix of sweet almonds spiced with bitter almonds, has been passed on within the Mouliérac family. In 1986 Matthieu decided to revive the tradition of his grandmother Jeanne Mouliérac and opened this store. We bought a box of 12, but they are not like macarons we buy in NZ, they are in halves sort of stuck on paper and you peel them off and eat them – and they went a treat with our coffees (yes, we devoured the lot)!
Heading back to pick up the car we popped in to Cloître des Cordeliers, a 14 century cloister listed as a historical monument, the 15th century church was renovated in 2019 to house a modern boutique with a local wine cellar offering sparkling wines made in the underground cellars, wine tastings, handcrafted products and picnic baskets which can be eaten in the shaded gardens of the church. It is an amazing renovation – have a look at the photo of before and after below…..
Our first stop on the wine route was Château La Fleur-Pétrus, one of the most famous vineyards in Pomerol. The vineyard, located 33 – 38 metres above sea level comprises mainly of Merlot. Next up we stopped by Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, Geoff was keen to visit here as he had enjoyed a very nice 70% merlot and 30% cabinet franc with his dinner last night, so we were off to a good start.
And then……an hour or so’s drive south to Sauternes we had a visit to the vineyard that was at the very top of my list….. Château d’Yquem. Once a fortress in the 12th Century, in 1593 Jacques Sauvage a local notable whose ancestor was the Mayor of Bordeaux, became a tenant in Yquem and had the Château built there. His descendant was Léon de Sauvage d’Yquem. The castle has been listed as an historical monument since 2003 for its decorations, frescoes and paintings and it produces the only Sauternes classed Premier Cru Supérieur.
It is called “sweet wine” because the presence of a fungus with very specific properties, Botrytis cinerea, usually feared by winegrowers, is, under certain climatic conditions, a veritable aromatic treasure. This is particularly the case for Yquem wine which benefits from the sought-after characteristics of this “noble rot”. The Château d’Yquem wine estate brings together all the climatic conditions necessary for the development of Botrytis cinerea – in autumn the alternate morning fog due to the presence of the Ciron river near the vineyard, and the afternoons made dry by the wind, allows the appearance of this variety of microscopic fungus on the vines. The clay-ey and water-rich soil of the vineyard is also favourable to the “noble” status of Botrytis cinerea which gives Sauternes wine an aroma that is both sweet and acidic, making Yquem wine very prestigious. There was a 15 litre bottle on display in the Château costing a cool Euros 10,000 (NZ$ 17,700!). Château d’Yquem is like a nectar of the Gods, and with my sweet tooth it is the perfect accompaniment to chocolate and sweet desserts, but it is also beautiful with warmed foie-gras and apple. I am very fortunate to own some precious bottles of this liquid gold (one of many benefits of my marital separation!) and it was great to chat with one of the very knowledgeable guides who gave me some tips on storage and also presented me with a Château d’Yquem glass bottle stopper for those occasions when one bottle is just too much to drink in one night! As a lovely treat, Geoff bought a bottle for us which we are going to enjoy with something sweet over the next night or two!
Lunchtime beckoned and being in Sauternes we felt it was only appropriate to find something to eat that would go with a sweet wine. No restaurant in Château d’Yquem, we drove down the road to our next stop, Château Guiraud where we sat on the outside terrace of their restaurant La Chapelle, and enjoyed some foie-gras thickly spread on French bread, ladened with butter and topped with an apple purée, and accompanied by a glass of their sweet own Sauternes wine. Delicious!
Homeward bound and back to our hotel for a cool-down swim before venturing out again. We had a few other landmarks to knock off this evening as we are onto our next destination after breakfast tomorrow. La Tour du Roy, the only Romanesque Keep still intact in Gironde, located outside the ramparts of the city and constructed around 1224 by either the King of France, Louis VIII, whose troops were occupying Saint-Émilion and conquered part of Aquitaine, or Henri III Plantagenêt, King of England and Duke of Aquitaine, who ordered its construction in 1237 when Saint-Émilion was under English control – it remains a mystery apparently! The wine brotherhood, La Jurade, still uses this tower today to ensure the promotion of Saint-Émilion wines throughout the world. The Jurats meet at the top of the tower to proclaim the Judgment of New Wine in June and the Ban des Vendanges (the official opening of the harvest period) in September. Opposite this, and nestled in the vines, is the remains of the Ursuline Convent, founded in the 17th Century by the nuns who left behind the secret recipe for those delicious macarons! And our final stop, Les Lavoirs, the Wash Houses, converted in the 19th century from two springs, they supplied water to the town’s two wash houses, the King’s Fountain and the Place Fountain – and were conveniently located alongside the table in the restaurant where we had dinner – I had the most delicious creamy truffle pasta – delightful!
And that’s Saint-Émilion for you. Off to La Rochelle tomorrow so we’ll be up early to enjoy our brekkie on the terrace before we leave.