2020 Monbazillac, Domaine l'Ancienne Cure

Both the town and appellation of Bergerac lie in the centre of the Dordogne department with its beautiful landscape of rolling hills and burgeoning population of expatriate Brits. It is also home to some of France’s oldest vineyards producing inexpensive dry, white wines predominantly for local consumption, and to the south of the town of Bergerac itself lies the smaller and more specialized sweet wine-producing appellation of Monbazillac. It is in the Monbazillac area of production that Christian Roche’s Domaine de L’Ancienne Cure is to be found.
Christian is first and foremost a Monbazillac producer but he has proved to be equally capable of making classy, dry white wines from the same mix of grapes – Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle. His vine holdings total 40 hectares, which is large for an independent producer, and 15 hectares of this land lie within the hallowed perimeter of Monbazillac.