Visiting Tautavel - the most stunning wine scenery in France

With the VX team in the XV vineyard. Cellar director and President, Andrée (who first created the wine with me back in...can't remember when ..long time), Justin, Cat and Mark being filmed.


9am Flybe Southampton to Perpignan. 28C. Justin drives us to Tautavel in the high valley that links Roussillon to Corbières. The most stunning wine scenery in France for me.

Google Earth it.

I'm going to try organising some arrangement where customers can come here on a cheap flight/car hire deal. They then drive around half a dozen of our suppliers and by waving a little card be welcomed like long lost brothers or sisters. The scenery is stunning, as I say, plus it’s not overrun with tourists. They stay on the coast, mostly. Stay at gites like where I am now, eat at the unpretentious bars we use like La Placette (or the very pretentious new restaurant in Maury, if that suits).

Five or six visits then back on the plane … wonderful sort of secret short break.

Katie Jones came here on holiday 22 years ago. Met a nice vigneron. Been here ever since. She's a great guide.

And makes a nice wine; Domaine Jones. Welsh Roussillon. We have some.

Mark Hoddy our winemaker still has vines here. And Justin, our MW, also. Quite a few wine people from outside – Bordeaux, the US – are moving in. Even young Thunevin who has his place in Castillon, just down from Le Chai au Quai.

Why such interest?

Because it’s stunning, the vines are affordable and the potential looks v good … once more people get to know about it.

Solution is more people must come and fall in love. With this place. It’s hard to sell the wines from here. I know. Been managing to do it for exactly 40 years. Just. Nothing wrong with the wines. And prices are great, but somehow they don't take off like they should. The people here still struggle to make a living from wine. But if more people just came and saw …

Our new wine 'Vive l'Evolution' coming September from Tautavel shows man evolving from Homo Erectus – quiet at the back – to Homo Winedrinkus in a mere 450,000 years. Which he did round here. The vineyards here are full of stone arrowheads. The wine growers of Tautavel enact this ascent of man thing for us. Funny bunch. So hospitable! Yesterday they hosted a group of Glasgow barmen … that IS brave.

Their wines are good. Very good. But it’s been many years since we bought here.

This steep sided valley is only about 5k from Opoul – for crows, much more for men – where we used to buy masses until they went bust. As I said, hard here. Ex- President Thibeaudau of the Opoul cellar and his two big sons (we still have this photo on our office wall of the 3 of them in scrum front row stance) now bring their grapes here.

This cellar works with Gerard Bertrand - a Big Man round here … ex Rugby International. He is determined to build its reputation. I bought wine from his dad … 'Cuvée Georges Bertrand' . Long ago. Gerard usually gets what he wants.

And over the opposite ridge lies little Embres where I bought wine from Bernard Pueyo. Cuvee Pompadour. Lovely wine from a great bearded Neanderthal, but the first man to get on a map every plot of vines in his village – soil analysis, vine age, everything. This allowed him to sort out good from bad and get more money for the good growers, who struggle most, with the steepest and oldest vineyards. Others do this now. Tautavel do. And the wine is just amazingly better for it.

But they struggle. The 'Crise' has hit them hard. Mostly the wives have had to leave their farms to get jobs in town. But that's agriculture for you. But there's recompense living here. Stunning place.

Dinner with Jean Charles who grows what Mark buys and raises as Vent de Folie. Was snails barbecued by his Dad, eaten straight off the coals with some aioli. And sausages with a big sort of pie of cold vegetables that works very well here in the heat:

'Escalibade' – bake or grill lots of aubergines, tomatoes, onions, peppers, courgettes in oven then layer them into a big dish and souse with olive oil with scattereing of fresh parsley and raw chopped garlic. Serve cold.

Shippy the more-or-less spaniel likes my sausage too much.

Staying at the Mas d'en Simon run by Jeremy and Lisa Ancock. You should come and stay. They've done it so beautifully. Lost in the vines. Pool and ping pong. Very comfy bed, full moon out there. What more can you want? Sleeps.