One night, on our recent trip to Bordeaux, after a day in the Medoc, we found ourselves in the quirky Au Petit Bois wine bar, the one with a tree inside the bar. The wine of the evening was not a Bordeaux – shock. It was a wild, sweaty Pecharmant from the Bergerac. The dangerous scent of undergrowth, the animal sweat of this uncompromising, untamed red wine got us excited. So excited that we reorganised our timetable to drive east to meet Didier Roches of the Domaine du Haut Pecharmant, the winery at the top of the slope that is Pecharmant, northeast of the city of Bergerac.
Didier’s Pecharmant is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc with some Merlot and Malbec. It’s bold, rough and dirty. In a good way. Like arm to arm wrestling with a wild animal and you only just come out on top.
