Chez Cartaud

Eric and Marie- Agnes Cartaud are the first French family we met when we moved here in 1996. Eric and Chris hit it off straight away despite the language barrier - wine terms remain very similar. We learnt pretty much all our French by spending many an evening drinking and eating around their dining table.

Eric is a local farmer and vigneron ( wine producer ). He makes wine for Hennessey Cognac and also makes vin de pays wine for sale as well as the local tipple - Pineau des Charentes and his own Cognac - using eau de vie from Hennessey which they produced by distilling his wine.

You can visit Eric and Marie - Agnes Cartauds cellar door where you can taste then buy, all his wines and Pineau . They live just 2km away from us, so you can even take a lovely walk along the edge of Nie stream . Eric will happily deliver all your purchases to your cottage afterwards.

Pineau des Charentes is unique to this area. It is produced by mixing eau de vie (raw spirit from the Cognac distillation process) and grape juice, both red and white . It is then matured in oak barrels for about 18 months. With a strength of 18% it's served chilled as an aperitif but can be mixed to create a long sweet drink too. Delicious at any time of day.

Eric and Marie-Agnes also make red, white and rosé wines. The reds are classic Bordeaux styles using a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend , the whites are Colombard grape variety and the rosés are generally made from the red merlot grapes but not left for long in contact with the skins so create a light pink colour to the wine.

Chris is happy to escort you to Erics for a tasting or you can practice your French and go alone. They don't have opening times as such as their cellar door is at their home. Just call at reasonable times of day - which means not between 12 and 2 when they are eating their lunch or after 7pm when it's dinner ! If they are out they will leave a mobile phone by the door which you can call Eric on (speed dial) and he'll pop back from the fields . The Cartaud family are good friends of ours and so we ask that you don't take advantage of their hospitality by tasting everything but buying nothing ! A bottle of Pineau is a delightful gift to buy someone at home and is also fabulous for dosing your Christmas cake with !

Each week we offer Vineyard visits to Erics vines. Chris worked in the wine industry before moving to France so he knows his stuff. He talks about the local countryside, why wine tastes like wine, how vines grow and anything else you want to know ! Find out more here

Eric and Marie-Agnes Cartauds web site can be found www.maison-cartaud-vigneron.fr