Bergerac

THE BACKWATER OF THE SOUTHWEST COMES OUT OFTHE SHADOWS

Say the word “Bergerac” and one image comes to mind: A swordsman, with a very big nose is hiding behind a bush. This is Cyrano de Bergerac as imagined in the play of the same name by Edmond Rostand in 1897. He is in love with the beautiful Roxanne, but because of his nose and his awkward, country-bumpkin manners, he cannot bring himself to woo her. Instead, he will help his friend Christian win the beautiful maiden, by supplying his handsome, youthful friend with verse, who will in turn spout them up to the balcony to an impassioned Roxanne, who is suitably impressed. “Tis well known, a big nose is indicative of a soul affable, and kind, and courteous,” says Cyrano of himself. The play is a gentle tragedy of sorts, of love unrequited and nobleness in excess of the common, and it is entirely fiction.

There was a real Cyrano de Bergerac. He was a soldier, a lover of women. He wrote plays, and he wrote two works of science fiction Voyage dans la Lune (1657) and L’Histoire des Etats Et Empires du Soleil, (1662), both published after his death, in which he imagined a rocket ship that would carry his characters into the heavens, the first science fiction of the space travel genre. And he wasn’t even from Bergerac. His family had a house there.

So even the little thing we think we know about Bergerac turns out to be fiction. In truth, the region in the Southwest of France, tucked in at the back of Bordeaux, is a bit off of the beaten track and is kind of the “the country” in the French sense of the word, and the reputation of its wines has suffered as a result. Even in the 14th century, when the winemakers of Bergerac were given special privileges to sell to England, they had to ship their wine to the coast down the Gironde river, where the winemakers of Bordeaux had the upper hand and would give its own wine priority in the shipments overseas. You get the picture.

But Bergerac is also —because of its rural character and the gentle climate of the Dordogne valley — is considered to be one of the gastronomic centers of France. It is the center of truffle farming. This is the home of the pate de foie gras (no matter what you think of it), duck and goose, walnuts and walnut oil, the juiciest sweetest pork, and piquant blue cheeses like Roquefort. The wines of the region are similar to Bordeaux, the grapes very similar, and are made with care to complement these rich foods.

There are 13 AOC’s in the region. The wines are not easy to find in most wine stores, but are certainly modestly priced by comparison to their neighbors in Bordeaux, and have a certain softness that I find appealing. I tried three, all of them in the $12 to $15 range. The Chateau Haut Bernasse 2005, from the Cotes de Bergerac was a St. Emilion like blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I liked it a lot. Gentle but with good acidity and lots of earthy flavors like mushroom, violets, blackberry, fresh earth, mint and a fresh, youthful quality. Not a powerhouse but restrained. The Bergerac Rouge Domaine du Petit Paris 2006 was very similar to a modest Bordeaux, a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, good fruit, satisfying bottom, but not a standout.

What blew me away was the white wine from the same vineyard, the Bergerac Sec from 2007. This is a blend of Semillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle and it had such an unusual character. If you’ve ever eaten a white peach off the tree you’ll understand the clarity of the succulent fruit, the apricot flowers on the nose, and a lemony gorgeous finish. That it could have such assertive ripe peach fruit and still remain dry and refreshing was remarkable. This is a wine to go out and find and experience for yourself, and I bet it would be stunning with pate and Roquefort and the other delights of Bergerac.