Gascony is the home of good country cooking. The food is hearty and wholesome: cassoulet, magret de canard, pâté de foie gras, and everything goose and duck related. Gascon cooking relies on its honest simplicity. Natural flavours are allowed to speak for themselves. Gascony is known for la douceur de vivre, the sweet life, a place for taking it easy and enjoying simple pleasures. Confit de canard can be put in jars, rillettes d’oie can be put in pots, but the food is best savoured sitting around a stone table, in the open air, on a summer evening, with a glass of wine, listening to the chatter of friendly voices.
The wines of Gascony are enjoying a renaissance of interest. The reds of the Madiran vineyards are full of character and will keep for years. The dry white wine known as Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh is fruity and fresh. The sweet white wine of late-harvested Pacherenc is a special treat, honeyed and smooth, not cloying, and with a spicy finish. The area enjoys a gentle microclimate, the air is moistened by Atlantic breezes in the spring, while the protective hills ensure low rainfall during the summer and autumn.
Armagnac the spirit of Gascony