Gaillac: Good food and natural wine

This restaurant cum wine bar sits in the very centre of the town of Gaillac and was established originally by a number of local natural winemakers many years ago. One of them was our friend Patrice Lescarret whose beautiful wines we imported for many years before he downsized.

Vigne en foule is named after a very old method of close planting grape vines that has long since been abandoned in France. This pleasant bistro in the centre of Gaillac serves up very smart food at amazing prices. The wine list highlights the growing number of natural wine makers in south west France and beyond.

The team of owners are chef Julien Bourdaries, local distiller Laurent Cazottes, Fabien Loubiere and vignerons Bernard Plageoles, Patrice Lescarret and Michael Issaly. Some of these original owners may have relinquished their ownership by now.

When you walk in from the pleasant central square you will notice jars of preserved grapes above the kitchen – these are examples of ancient varieties from the area that the owners are trying to restore to their former glory (Gaillac was one of the most beloved wine producing areas in Europe centuries ago).

So much attention is now being given to varieties such as Braucol, Duras, Ondenc, Prunelard, Jurancon, Alicante and many of the other varieties that were being pulled up in favour of the international varieties such as Chardonnay and Shiraz.

The wine list however explores more widely than Gaillac with old favourites such as the wines of the Mosse family (we saw a Marie-Renard 2015 on our most recent visit), the amazing Substance Champagne from Jacques Sellose, a very old Fleurie from Jean Foillard and the Elian Da Ros from the nearby Côtes du Marmandais appellation which was almost 20 years old, to name just a few.

On one visit we ordered a bottle of the Hegoxuri produced by Domaine Arretxea from Irouleguy which is a very pretty town where red peppers are strung up on the white houses to dry in the sun before being turned into powdered pepper for which the town is famous.

This crisp, intensely mineral white wine from the French Basque country on the Spanish border is made from Petit Manseng, Gros Manseg and Petit Corbu and is a perfect food wine.

You can read more about this restaurant and check their opening hours here.

We have also written about this venue in a story about natural wine bars to visit in France here.