A visit to Clos d'Yvigne

 

Patricia Atkinson's  21 year old creation

When the sun is shining what better to do than head directly south from  Ribérac.  In little over an hour and 62km later you could find yourself  in the gentlle, rolling, wooded hills deep in the heart of Saussignac country.  In the tiny hameau of Gageac-Rouillac the limestone entrance of the author and vigneron, Patricia Atkinson's Clos d'Yvigne will welcome you.  The story is well recorded but a quick recap for those not familiar with her history.  Patricia and her husband arrived in the Dordogne in 1990 and bought a vineyard.  When her husband became ill and had to return to the UK Patricia decided to stay put and alone, facing all the terrors and exictement of an uncertain future fuelled by a certain conviction. 

 

2011, un autre bon millesime?

During the ensuing 21 years the vineyard has prospered, growing from four hectares to the current 21 whilst producing a range of award winning wines spanning the whole range from moelleux to full bodied reds.  In between all the hard work and immense responsibilty of growing and running a vineyard Patricia has written a number of best sellers (La Belle Saison, The Ripening Sun to name a few) which have recounted her French adventures to date. 

 

The Romanesque church fills the view from Patricia's tasting room

With such a formidable reputation Lesley and I decided to make the pleasant poodle south on a particularly beautiful late March morning to try and discover the secret of her sucess.  Unfortuantely Patricia was away in Spain so we were left in the very capable hands of her assistant, Karen.  Karen has worked for Patricia for 11 years.  She is immensely happy in her work and told us she couldn't imagine doing anything else. 

 

Karen displays the confidence born of the produce she sells

Karen also told us that the vines ranged from between 11 and 27 years in age although the vines on the estate that produce that sweet honeyed amber nectar known as Saussignac are an incredible 103 years old.  That's an awflul lot of late autumn sunshine and early morning mists that they have experienced. I wondered what the autumn harvest of 1908 was like, was it colder, hotter, wetter or more or less the same as 2010?  Well we are here to tell you the 2005 Saussignac that we tasted was absolutley exquisite with a soft succulent caramelly and apricot nose.  Karen painfully recounted that it had taken four vines to prouce the 37.5 cl of nectar that filled that particular bottle.  Having ourselves suffered the pain and hardship of recently picking a noble rot harvest made the taste even more intense.  As well as the Saussignac we tried a couple of reds which were also deeply impressive and deserved all the hype attached to them.  We finally plumped for a case of 'Le Petit Prince' 2006, a wine which displayed as clean on the palate, with deep tannins engorged with cassis berries.

 

We call it research

The cepage is one of my favourites, 90% merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc for balance.  Truly delicious, but Karen warned us there were only a few cases left so if you're interested you'd better make a visit to the beautifully restored Clos d'Yvigne a priority.  Click on the Clos d'Yvigne link for more information on what to buy and how to get there.  If you are unlucky enough and Patricia has sold out you could always make the trip to Repos à Ribérac and enjoy a bottle with one of our table d'hôtes evening meals.   Believe me, either way, it will be worth the effort!

 

What it's all about, the wine about to be despatched to Ribérac

Tomorrow will see us continuing our gastronomic research at Riberac's first "Printemps de la Gastronomie", an all-day event starting with a breakfast at Le Champs de foire de St Aulaye, going through the lunch period with offerings from various food and drink stalls to the accompaniment of chansons, jazz and country dancing.  Throughout the day there will be demonstrations by chefs from the local restaurants.  The event will continue until late afternoon.

 

We will be recording the events tomorrow, let's hope it's not raining! 

One of our local banks expects to be busy tomorrow