Welcome to the Dordogne area of France and what a wonderful week I’ve had. Our chateau named Chateau Caillac is situated in Fongrave, a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France. The garden of the chateau runs down to the River Lot where we spent time canoeing and paddle boarding, having great fun.
As you can see the chateau has many rooms including a big games room, several lounges and several eating areas and a cabana outside with another kitchen and barbecue. In fact I have never come across a place so well equipped with everything from multiple ovens, dishwashers, cutlery, crockery, washing machines and dryer. There were 10 of us adults plus little 3 year old Peyton who is the granddaughter of my good friends Jill and David. We all rubbed along really well and the atmosphere was one of relaxation and fun!!
So each morning a group of us set off in search of baguettes and croissants either on bike of by car, and then followed a tasty french breakfast of fruit salad and yogurt followed by baguettes and croissants and coffee and teas. Everyone pitched in to clear up, cook or do whatever was needed.
Evening meals included David cooking an amazing paella, then the following night Mandy and I cooking a creamy tomato chicken pasta with salad and garlic bread and then Graham, Jean, Tom, Emily and Amy cooking a salmon, prawns, beef and some amazing salads. Of course there was plenty of chocolate etc for dessert! Superb effort by everyone, and as we all love our food it wasn’t difficult to do.
We drove to the beautiful village of St Emilion during the week, which is a commune in the Gironde in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France.
In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Lilbourne), in a region of wine hills, this beautiful place is a medieval city located at the crossroads of Bordeaux, Saintonge and Perigord. The town and surrounding vineyards were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, owing to its long, living history of wine-making, Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.
We wondered around the quaint village streets of St Emilion and settled for a lovely bistro in a little courtyard off of the main street for lunch, where we had share plates of steak, warm camembert, foie gras, a charcuterie plate and the usual basket of baguette.
After lunch we had organised a wine tour at Chateau de Candale. Chateau de Candale has been an estate in St. Emilion for centuries. The estate takes its name from the original founder of the property, Lady Margaret de Suddolk Kandall. The modern era for Chateau de Candale begins for the estate when the vineyard was purchased by Jean Louis Vicard in 2010 from the Adams family. Stephen Adams and Denise Adams still own the neighboring Saint Emilion estate, Chateau Fonplegade.
Jean Louis Vicard was already familiar with the Bordeaux wine trade as he was one of the more successful coopers, producing barrels in the Cognac region at his family company, Cooperage Vicard, that was founded all the way back in 1875.
One of the first decisions made by Jean Louis Vicard was to bring in the team of Stephane Derenoncourt to consult on the winemaking and vineyard management for Chateau de Candale.
Since the estate was first purchased, Jean Louis Vicard has increased the size of the estate from 11 hectares to its current 13-hectare size. In January 2017, Chateau de Candale was purchased by Thibaut Decoster and Magali Decoster who also own and manage 2 additional Bordeaux vineyards in Saint Emilion, Clos des Jacobins, and Chateau La Commanderie. The Right Bank vineyard is planted to 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard is located east of the Saint Emilion village, not too far from Tertre Roteboeuf.
After our wine tour we returned to St Emilion for another stroll around the village.
Below are photos of our Fongrave group enjoying the ambience of Chateau Caillac, whether cooking, playing games and cards, or playing table tennis, badminton, pool volley ball, darts and snooker. Can’t wait to return one day.
Thank you to Jill and David for such a wonderful week!!!
