Saint Guilhem le Desert

10/27 & 28 Monday and Tuesday

Monday turned out to be a long day with several successes and one notable failure.

I had identified a couple more wineries mentioned in Wine Spectator that we wanted to visit beyond Pezenas and, given our successful sojourn the previous day, I was quite confident that we would breeze through them and make our lunch stop – the tourist town of Saint Guilhem le Desert – in plenty of time for a leisurely meal.

Best laid plans…

Road construction everywhere. Unmarked detours. New roads replacing the ones depicted in our maps. We had to hurry because one of the wineries was only open for tastings in the morning. But we managed it by meandering through the countryside on a winding old, albeit paved, cow path.

Chateau Capion is an historic old estate. The main house was mostly hidden from view except for the occasional chimney and spire, but was clearly an impressive edifice. The parking area was one hundred yards or so away next to the office and the attached tasting room that appeared to have been recently, but sensitively, renovated. Our hostess was welcoming with good English but Sharon was a bit put off by the background taste of limestone in the wines. Cathey and I managed put together a case of rose, red and white that we found sufficiently interesting to warrant the freight.

Mas de Daumas Gassac was another story entirely. Grand cru wine is produced there, the result of an unusual combination of a South African with no viniculture experience but with money, vines matched to soil characteristic as determined scientifically by a university scholar who was a friend of the aforementioned South African, and careful fermentation and aging technique concocted by a third friend. A young lady with enough broken English to be understandable agreed to take us on a tour that wound up in the underground cellars.

The wine, after a period of time in big stainless vats, is aged for a full year in hundreds of oak barrels that were lined up in five rows. The first row was composed of new barrels in their first season, the second row barrels were in their second season, the third row their third, and so on. Because barrels of different ages impart different characteristics to the wine, every three months the barrels are decanted, the wines mixed, then re-barreled. After the year is up, the wine is bottled. We asked what was done with the barrels after five years. The barrels used to age the reds went to Portugal for use in the production of port, the whites to Ireland for aging whiskey. Some stayed in France to be cut in half and used as planters in local communities.

The current vintage went for 35 euros a bottle. After a tasting, we bought two bottles in a cute little wooden box to be cellared for a few years. Reds ready for drinking went for 70 euros or more.

On to St. Guilhem, an artsy, touristy village clinging to the side of an impressive gorge. Our guide at Mas de Daumas Gassac made reservations for us at a pretty little restaurant where we had what might be described as an interesting luncheon. There seems to be less and less French in French cooking…too much emphasis on novel presentations and reaching for new and, to us, seemingly unrelated combinations of flavors. Not that the meal wasn’t enjoyable, just unnecessarily complicated. Why would you fold over a thin slice of beef steak and fill it pumpkin puree?

Back to Beziers for a new, digital satellite receiver at the Castorama. First there was the problem of returning the old one. It wasn’t enough to have the service desk sign off on the fact that we had indeed purchased the receiver there, we had to go back to the department that sold it, in the case the heating department, for them to sign off on it too. Then back to the service desk for the credit on our bank card. And oh, by the way, we’re fresh out of the receiver that you need.

It wasn’t a total loss, though. Every house needs a can of WD 40, right?

So, home late and still no English language television.

Tuesday was much quieter, though occasionally exasperating. Our one task was to find that satellite receiver. Off to Narbonne, first to the Darty, an electronics store that showed promise until we learned that a receiver would cost in the neighborhood of 200 euros. Then to Carrefour, where I thought that I’d found one for 89 euros until the salesman told me that it wouldn’t work for us. He directed us to the SAV across the parking lot. We thought that it was another store but it turned out to be a little building, part of Carrefour, called Service Après Vente, Service After Sale. We worried that meant that they were going to try to sell us a subscription to a satellite service instead of setting us up for the free channels but indeed, after a bit of gesticulation and a rough diagram, we got the box that the salesman said would work. 95 euros. The only glitch was coming up with our postal code. Had to do an internet search. I’ll write it down and keep it in my wallet with our phone number.

On the way home we stopped by a restaurant along the Canal du Midi recommended by Simon to make reservations for Thursday night. Pretty little place. White linen rustic. It was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday but we took down the phone number and will call. Reservations are very important in France. Depending on the establishment, you just might not get seated without them whether or not there are open tables.

Home and time for satellite box set-up. At first, nothing. Then a glimmer. Then hundreds of channels appear on the menu. Unbelievable variety. Channels specific to car manufacturers. Lots of Babe XXX channels – the free ones teasers for the pay-per-view. Gay channels, too. QVC-type channels selling everything. EVERYTHING. Every regional BBC channel – there are dozens of them. Movie channels and kid channels and don’t forget Bollywood and Arab channels and on and on and on…literally just under 1,000. Maybe half subscription, the rest free.

The box allows for seven favorites so we chose a couple of movie channels…including the one that seems to concentrate on Poirot, Adam Dalgliesh and Sherlock Holmes…and all sorts of news channels…BBC, CNN International, France24. Ten favorites in all. Leave it to the French to write in the manual that you’re allowed seven and then give you ten.