8/13/2023 0 Comments Dordogne chateaux for sale![]() ![]() Fortified feudal dwelling, protected by a moat, walls or towers.Ĥ. The Larousse French dictionary gives the following four definitions:ģ. There are 615 Dordogne chateaux and 382 ‘demeures’ listed as Historic Monuments of France. According to the Architectes du Batiments de France, if you encompass all definitions, there are actually around 3000 chateaux in the Dordogne today, and they are still being built. In current usage the term is generally used to designate a castle or fortress or large country house in the French countryside, be it a chateau, chartreuse, gentilhommière or manoir. The term was originally most commonly used to define a medieval construction destined to protect the “seigneur” and as a symbol of his authority over his fief or noble domain. Today the term ‘chateaux’ in widely used to refer to a variety of dwellings aspiring to varying degrees of grandeur. It is no surprise given its history that the Dordogne region has the highest concentration of noble dwellings in France.īut what exactly can be classed as chateaux, and how do we know there are 1001 in the Dordogne? The term ‘Chateaux’ originated from the latin ‘castellum’ which is a diminutive of ‘castrum’. The Pécharmant appellation overlaps slightly with the boundaries of the Rosette AOC, which specializes in sweet white wines.The fact that many of these Dordogne Chateaux are fortified reflects its history as an area of conflict between France and England in the Middle Ages but it is also renowned as hosting some of the world’s most important sites of prehistoric dwelling in the area of Lascaux. Pécharmant was granted appellation status in 1946, and today the 450hectares (1100 acres) is home to around 50 producers. The Pécharmant vineyard was first planted to vine as far back as the 11th Century and viticulture has continued almost uninterrupted since, save for the inconveniences of phylloxera and two World Wars. These wines – essentially Bordeaux blends – tend to be dominated by Merlot in particular, although this varies from producer to producer. Furthermore, the wines must contain at least three of the stipulated grape varieties. Pécharmant AOC wines must by law be blends, and no single grape variety may exceed 65 percent of the finished wine. The location of the vineyards on south-facing slopes ensures both good sunshine exposure and protection from cool northerly winds – both factors that optimize ripening. Summers are slightly warmer, winters are cooler, and a lower overall level of rainfall is concentrated in the winter and spring. Pécharmant's vineyards are inland from the Gironde estuary and, while they share a similar Atlantic-influenced climate to Bordeaux, there are more continental influences at play. This soil promotes the development of both flavor and tannin in the grapes that, along with lower yield stipulations than in the Bergerac vineyards, results in rich, concentrated wines. Generally speaking, gravel and sand soils cover the south-facing slopes, with a deeper layer of iron-rich clay known as tran. The landscape has been formed by the movement of these rivers over time, and the soils found in this small appellation contribute to the particular character of the wines. ![]() The northern and eastern borders of the appellation are bounded by forest and a small tributary of the Dordogne, the Caudeau river, flows through the center of the area. The Dordogne river flows along the southern extremity of Pécharmant's permitted vineyard area, before flowing west to bisect the Bordeaux wine region. The appellation covers four communes on a south-facing bank of hills just to the east of the city of Bergerac itself. Pécharmant wines are usually considered a step up in quality from the rustic red wines of Bergerac, but so little is made that it is rarely seen outside of the Dordogne region. It gives its name to full-bodied red wines made from a blend of Merlot, Malbec (known locally as Cot) and Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc. Pécharmant is a little-known appellation within the Bergerac region of South West France. ![]()
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