Albas Wine Festival
We’re all recovering from one of the most arduous fetes of the year! Albas Wine Festival is an outstanding event. Six or seven thousand people – according to the Mairie – crammed tightly into one of the smallest and prettiest villages on the river. Naturally we always feel obliged to attend, as we happen to be in the commune of Albas. So – purely in the course of duty – we went along to sample this year’s vintages. It happened to be an exceptionally hot day and by six o’clock the narrow road that winds downhill to the little medieval village was shimmering in a heat haze. After payment of our statutory twelve euros and receipt of the little glass engraved with the legend:
‘Le bon air est dans les caves’
27th Mai 2006 – Albas
We were free to wander the cobbled streets and imbibe as much as we liked of the nine wines on offer. Now if you happen to be doing this in a truly scholarly sense – as of course I was – it soon becomes a little tricky to distinguish one from another, if you happen to have an empty tummy as well it rapidly becomes rather difficult to walk in a straight line! I reached this point in the cool darkness of cave number six. These caves are the original cellars of the village houses, hewn out of the very rock on which Albas was built. I found myself leaning against the wall grinning inanely at the Maire. Shortly afterwards I was force fed a Rocamadour sandwich to sober me up.
Albas Wine Festival
The Maire of course had been working incredibly hard all day. There had been a vast official luncheon at midday. Anyone can attend, although you have to book well in advance and it isn’t cheap, you must also be able to sit through five or six courses without passing out. The Maire, naturally, is forced to do so and one can clearly see he takes his duties very seriously indeed. In the evening there’s a second marathon meal, strictly limited to twelve hundred. If you don’t feel inclined to partake, there are the goat’s cheese and foie gras sandwich stalls – fortunately for me – who do a roaring trade till the early hours.
The streets are absolutely thronged from six till after two in the morning. The village brass band gives it all they’ve got under the official awning, while several (actually, there were fourteen) more bands throb with ear-splitting rhythm, deep down in the caves. Above the little alleyways and narrow passages intricate paper sculptures – all with a vinous connection – are cunningly suspended.
I tell you, it’s quite a party! If you happen to be around next May you should definitely give it a go.
Cherries
Now that we’d decided on our house wine for the next year I turned my attention to the markets. Every wonderful village market from Souillac to the Mediterranean is laden with cherries, artichokes and melons. Glorious cherries, huge sweet, scarlet orbs that lure you to a bagful just for the sheer pleasure of it. Melons are getting sweeter by the day and the purveyors of Bayonne ham are sharpening their knives in anticipation. However the real bargains are the artichokes, they’re so expensive in England but here I can buy enough to make an elegant entrée for eight people with just a couple of euros. I accosted my favourite stallholder in Cahors. Four immense artichokes, several handfuls of delicate lambs lettuce and some lemony sorrel. Just a couple of creamy cabecous from the fromagerie next door and a scoop of violet olives from the man across the way.
Delicious! Just the dish to accompany our new wine.
© Amanda Lawrence 2006
Albas Wine Festival 2006 from French Vie
Tags: Albas, Cahors Wine, The Quercy
