There’s a doubt concerning the origins of the name Pécharmant. We know that Pech means “hill” in Occitan language. So, was it about the hill of a man named Armand? Or is it simply about a charming hill?
Of course, it is charming. This lovely hill is standing next to Bergerac. Every day, the real gentlemen farmers winemakers contribute to make it unforgettable thanks to the wines produced there: the chopped reds of Pécharmant.
From Saint-Martin monks to gentlemen farmers
Since the XIth century, Pécharmant is the oldest vineyard of Bergerac, in the North wine region, cleared during Middle Ages by the monks of Saint-Martin priory.
Châteaux and lovely mansions are all around the vineyard which is full of natural biodiversity: woods, orchards, meadows with their elegant mounts.
If we were not in Périgord, the idea of an English atmosphere to this countryside will come to us, because these men and women are charming, passionate and love everything about wine.
The Pécharmant winemakers
Farmers’ land
Their vines are settled on a succession of hills, whose hillsides have a South orientation and surround the city of Bergerac. So, put on your boots for a little tour of the property and let’s talk terroir…
Do you know free jazz? Because Pécharmant vineyard is located on a sedimentary zone with Perigord sand and gravel soils born from the transformation of Massif Central granite rocks. So, it gave birth to heterogeneous pedological formations with poetical names: striated clays mixed with debris of sandstone and silex with multicoloured clay chards, yellow, red and blue. And of course, quartz rocks tangled in those clays.
Bibidi-badidou-bam, you see? Playing the bass and drums, a clay layer called tran perfects the particularity of Pécharmant terroir, which is very suitable for the vine culture and the creation of great wines.
Gentlemen’s expertise
It won’t be useful to say that to make the best of such a terroir require a little of expertise. From the strategic choice for vine stocks to the precise tasks that are needed to answer to a very strict production design brief. From the careful work of the wine from the ultra-specific exercise of the blending.
Because, in Pécharmant, 4 grape varieties are cultivated: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Carbernet Sauvignon and Malbec.
To ensure a certain complexity of the wines, at least 3 of these 4 grape varieties have to be mixed for each cuvées.
Adding the possibilities given by the typicity of the appellation soils, you can imagine the pallet the winemakers have to determine the final blending!
What an art!
As a result: subtle, complex and unique wines.
With a beautiful dark and deep red colour, Pécharmant wines are intense, elegant and generous wines with a wide and rich mouth. On the aroma scale, the black fruits lead with blackberry and blackcurrant notes, completed by vanilla and spice notes when the winemaker decided to go for an ageing in oak barrels. In their youth, you must decant them. The smoothness of the Merlot gives them a nice touch, but the age gives them without a doubt a supplement of elegance.
Keep: from 7 to 15 years and more for the great wines
Serving temperature: 17°C / 62.6°F
Best match: perfect with game, roasted meat and character cheese; surprising with a chocolate desert or figs poached in wine.
