FOOD & WINE TOUR OF DORDOGNE VALLEY

Your Gourmet Adventure – Food & Wine Tour

Our 7-day all-inclusive Dordogne Valley tour will showcase the best of this stunning region, where tradition, quality and good taste are extremely important. Dordogne cultivates the art of eating well!

Dordogne’s mouth-watering specialities are based on centuries of respect for high quality produce and simple recipes. We will make the most of this huge array of local produce on our tour. Highlights include:

• Visiting the Issigeac and Monpazier Farmers' Markets. You will spend time wandering through the markets and sampling some of the beautiful produce.
• Sampling local specialities such as apples, strawberries, raspberries, chestnuts that are simply divine!
• Enjoying a variety of recipes with duck, such as confit de canard, foie-gras and the famous cou-farci. A local producer will welcome us into his farm and make us taste his delicious duck products.
• Visiting Bruno Gabelier at the foot of the Domaine des Courmettes, and food tastings of goats cheese straight out of his Fromagerie. Between a visit to the goats in their stable and to the Fromagerie (where the cheese is made), we will take the time to sit on a bench to sample the true unaltered flavour of the cheese.
• Tasting the famous Monbazillac botrytised wine (which has been affected by noble rot), but also Bergerac and Pecharmant red wine
• Eating at the Ferme Auberge de la Borie Blanche in the stunning village of Domme. It celebrates traditional dishes such as Tourin à l’ail soup and a porcini omelette.
• Enjoying cuisine from what is known as one of the best regions in the world such as Farcidure, made by mixing grated raw potatoes, cooked mashed potatoes, sorrel, buckwheat, garlic and parsley.
• Enjoying Potée, a dish containing both meat and vegetables cooked in broth made with smoked bacon, salted pork, cabbage, leeks, turnips, carrots and potatoes. It is a healthy, tasty dish with little cholesterol and lots of vitamins.
• Sampling some of the best sweet treats you will ever try, such as Clafoutis – a moist cake speckled with a local variety of black cherries and Madeleines, which started being produced in Saint-Yrieix in the middle of the 19th century.
• We will visit Frédéric and enjoy food from his farm such as local meats, poultry, and organic vegetables.
• You will enjoy dining out at Régis Restaurant, and enjoy country food, served in generous portions and made with local ingredients and vegetables, all grown in his garden.
• Enjoy time at Sophie’s Restaurant, located inside a former butcher shop tucked away discreetly in an interior courtyard. The space was given a cool bistro and wine shop makeover and celebrates organic, local food and chemical-free wines!
• Michelin star Chef and your host, Francois, will also cook every dinner for you incorporating local recipes with seasonal products picked up daily from the local markets and local producers. If you would like to prepare a special dish or have a special request for dinner one evening – we would love to do that for you, so just let us know and we can make it happen.

YOUR BACKROAD ADVENTURE - Sightseeing & Exploring

It is a well-known fact in France that the Dordogne Region has the highest concentration of the “most beautiful villages” in the country: from Sarlat to Saint Amand de Coly.

Visitors to the Dordogne Region will relish in each village’s alluring ambiance as you stroll along their cobbled streets, sit outside and feast on the local produce and watch the world go by at its slow, provincial pace.

Bergerac has always been an important trading town, with a quayside on the river where boats used to carry goods to the port of Bordeaux. It's home to Cyrano de Bergerac and to beautiful wine. There are over 300,000 acres of vineyards in the area with 13 appellations for red, rosé, dry and sweet white wines like the famous Monbazillac.

Sarlat is often described as the pearl of Dordogne, a town of exceptional beauty with its narrow winding streets, stone roofs and open squares. It is one of the most important undamaged medieval city centres in the world.

The Dordogne has a lot going for it, with its abundance of gorgeous architecture and natural beauty, but even more spectacular than all of this is its collection of mysterious, prehistoric caves such as Lascaux and gouffres. Filled with images that are believed to have been drawn or painted over 12,000 to 20,000 years ago, the caves have become one of the most fascinating attractions in the country.

The Dordogne region boasts an astonishing number of castles, chateaux and forteresses dating as far back as the medieval era. Most of them located along the Dordogne river, which will give us the opportunity to enjoy a short cruise from La Roque Gageac. It is well-known as being the region of a thousand castles and whilst we haven’t counted them, we think that is probably fairly accurate!

A favourite getaway for both tourists and French holidaymakers, the Dordogne holds enough beauty and charm to enthral even the most reluctant visitor.

True to the traditions and creativity of the Côte d'Azur - both cosmopolitan and Provençal - artists and craftsmen and women reveal the full scope of their talent in many towns and villages in the region. The best known are Biot, Vallauris and Tourrettes-sur-Loup. We will visit their studios and workshops, discover the special talents of each one and enjoy the real pleasure of meeting these craftsmen with ‘golden hands’.

Your Dordogne valley Accommodation

A MAGNIFICIANT STONE PROPERTY, WITH A 19m LONG POOL IS YOURS FOR YOUR WEEK IN DORDOGNE

This wonderful stone, typical Perigord property, is nestled in 15 hectares of private land and offers endless opportunities for walking, watching the local wildlife or appreciating the view towards the castle of Beynac. The house has recently undergone a complete renovation and combines stone walls, original floorings, exposed cathedral ceilings with a contemporary modernisation.