Talk with Martin Walker

MARTIN WALKER

The first time I tasted wine was when I was 13. I had a French teacher who had spent years in France and had organised exchange visits for us. We would spend three weeks in Paris or in the countryside at Easter. I remember Claude, one of my pen pals, who was 6 foot 6 at age 15 and dreamed of becoming a parachutist. He smoked and would take me around the streets of Paris where women were scantily clothed. I fell in love with France. That’s why I learnt French, discovered the sound of the ‘metro’, Gauloises cigarettes and the smell of garlic. It was very exotic. I drank a glass of wine at his parents’ dinner table and fell asleep.

MARTIN WALKER

Wine really became a part of my life when I got a place at Oxford. The meals there were always very formal, in the great hall with its mediaeval decor, where academic gowns were worn. We were often served a glass at the end of the meal, occasionally a German Riesling but usually French wine. I was also in a club of young historians that would host four lectures a year with guests. We would prepare a meal for them in our rooms and would choose the food and the wine.

MARTIN WALKER

The first one that truly made an impression on me was a very good Pomerol, Château Nénin. Even today, I still love red wines from South-West France, more so than the Rhone Valley I have to admit. At the start of the 1980s, I also learnt to like wines from the Loire when I visited the vineyards with a friend who was a diplomat. I particularly enjoyed the Chinon by Olga Raffault.

MARTIN WALKER

I came to Périgord through some good friends – she was a translator and he was a journalist and they had inherited a small farm. When I was based in Moscow for The Guardian, we would come and spend three weeks with them in the summer. At the time, Périgord was magnificent but the food wasn’t so good and the wine was awful. Despite this, we in turn decided to move there. I can remember that specific day in 1997 when my wife called me to say that she had a found a house. I was in the antechamber of the Oval Office with Bill Clinton. I went home four days later and fell in love – as did my wife – with this former farm with its dovecot and extensive terrace.

MARTIN WALKER

Since I arrived, the local wines have improved a lot. Bergerac wines were highly respected by the English during the three centuries of British Consulate, but there was always rivalry with Bordeaux which ultimately won. The decline of tobacco farming, which brought prosperity to Bergerac, coincided with the resurgence of winegrowing.

MARTIN WALKER

I love Pécharmant [Ed. The protected designation of origin covers 450 ha north of Bergerac]. It was already feted in the 18th and 19th centuries. Stretching over a series of hills, its sand and gravel soils – which are unique in France – provide great nourishment for the vines which are never swamped in water due to natural drainage.

MARTIN WALKER

I met some very interesting people – Julien Monfort and his father who founded Julien de Savignac. A lot of people have followed their example and pushed forward the quality of the wines. There are always around 200 bottles in my wine cellar, most of them from the Bergerac region. I have met over 300 of the 1,000 or more active winegrowers in the region. I am very proud to be an ambassador of their work as a member of the Consulat de la Vinée, an institution established seven centuries ago and re-launched in the middle of the 20th century.

MARTIN WALKER

Julien Monfort and I created the Bruno label, named after the character in my novels – Bruno Courrèges – with his basset hound complete with kepi on the label. Since the first vintage in 2016 we have only released four, only in the best years. We buy grapes from friends and blend Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and some Malbec. With sliced duck tenderloin, wholegrain mustard and honey sauce, it is superb.