Maybe it’s because Muriel loves London
Muriel Chatel has made a huge difference to the French wine industry
CHATEAU Ponchapt is a small family wine estate producing 200,000 bottles from 50 acres in the Bergerac region, close to Bordeaux, in south-west France. There, on a sunny slope the Sahut family make their wines – a red, a white and a rosé.
First in 1964 there was Yvon and then in 1990 his son Yves-Eric took over. Until recently the Sahuts sold all their wine to their fellow countrymen. But the French have discovered healthy living; a new generation has forsworn bread and wine. Once, these staples were the lifeblood of the nation. French monarchs maintained popularity by piping free wine into Parisian fountains and were banished, when they failed to supply the people with their daily bread.
The arrival of the second millennium saw wine consumption down by a third and bread-baking in decline. The Sahuts, like thousands of other French wine makers were in trouble.
Then Yves-Eric Sahut married Sophie Chatel and they began producing jam from the grapes they grew – Sauvignon, Cabernet, and Merlot, were used to create a range of non-alcoholic jams and were sold along with the wine. But it was Sophie’s sister Muriel (pictured), who would make the big difference. She loved London; it was a great place, cosmopolitan and vibrant. Her fellow citizens might sneer and her president jeer at English eating habits. But Muriel was convinced that Londoners were culinary adventurers, keen to buy well-made tasty food and drink.
On a trip to London she discovered the marvellously atmospheric Borough Market. There close to London Bridge and in the shadow of Southwark Cathedral she set up shop. Under a magnificent Victorian wrought-iron canopy, she joined producers from all over the UK and abroad who sell an amazing range of genuinely fresh foods and drinks.
By supermarket standards Muriel’s range is tiny but their originality excites and their honesty impresses.
Sancerre, from the Loire valley, not the usual white Sauvignon but a red Pinot. A spicy white Gewurztraminer from the Alsace region, next to a Mexican red made from the Nebbiolo grape – usually at its most expressive and expensive in the Barolo region of Italy. The genuine article, traditional Barolos nestle among the Italians – five different vintages of Italy’s greatest wine.
Spain too is represented by red Rojas and a single varietal white. But it is French wines that dominate Red Girondas and Vacqueyras from the Rhone valley, a white Chateauneuf du Pape, rare in England but coveted in France. Cutting edge organic and biodynamic wines are also on display.
Then there are the celebrity wine-makers, Gerard Depardieu of course, and two wines – a Zinfandel and a Cabernet – from the director of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, whose Napa Valley winery has achieved cult status. The Ghanaian-born Scottish writer William Boyd – whose Chateau Petcachard is a near neighbour of Chateau Poncapt – sells his Bergerac AOC wine through Borough Wines. Only a tiny 9,000 bottles are produced and then only in good years.
Despite all the viticulural talent on display the undoubted stars are the red, white and rose wines of Chateau Poncapt, which Muriel describes as “my family wines”. The original three now joined by a forth, Chateau Clement, named after the Sahuts’ three year old son. The Sahuts have chosen not to install stainless steel tanks in their winery and use the original beton tank – ensuring a more traditional taste. At only £6 a bottle (cheaper online but minimum 12 bottles) these hand made natural wines are a bargain.
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