Monbazillac
Monbazillac is a tiny village, of less than a thousand people, perched on top of a lovely hill on the left bank of the Dordogne river just across from the town of Bergerac in South West France.
Like virtually every village in France, its architecture is dominated by an imposing church and a chateau. Monbazillac would have been lost in the mists of time if it were not for the wonderful sweet white wine that bears its name. The appellation covers almost 2,000 hectares of vineyards.
From my chambre d’hote, I walked through vineyards and then climbed up to the chateau. Since travelling had prevented me from wine walking for some months, it required a strenuous effort. But the panorama back over the landscape is stunningly beautiful.
The chateau of Monbazillac is well organised for wine tourism, with lots of information and a shop which sells wine and offers tasting.
After all the effort involved, I surely deserved a nice lunch with some Monbazillac wine. Fortunately the tiny village of Monbazillac did have a little restaurant open. But its offerings were “pas terrible”.
The AOC of Monbazillac was first established in 1936, but the area has a long history of sweet wine production. Only wine made from grapes grown in Monbazillac that are affected by the “noble rot” (Botrytis cinerea) can be sold under the Monbazillac designation. (Dry white wines from the same area are sold as Bergerac sec.)
The grape varieties Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle are used for Monbazillac, and the permitted base yield is 40 hectoliter per hectare, although actual yields are lower for many producers.
Monbazillac wines are broadly similar to Sauternes, but a difference is that Monbazillac often has a significantly higher proportion of Muscadelle in the blend, which can lead to slightly different aromas. While Monbazillac in former times could be a simpler semi-sweet wine, the style in more recent years has been that of a fully botrytized wine, since 1993 no mechanical harvesting is allowed and harvesting in several tries is required.