Food and Wine in the Languedoc, France

Montpellier is a Great Culinary and Cultural Center

Articles and photos by Beebe Bahrami

Lunch and dinner time are busy in the walking streets of Montpellier.

Raise Your Glass to Rabelais and the Local Wines!

In the heart of the Promenade du Peyrou in Montpellier, I pulled a wine glass from around my neck out from a burgundy-colored pouch with Le Festin de Rabelais splashed across it. I proffered my glass to the winemaker from Domaine du Pech St. Pierre. I had asked to try the best of his red wines. He straightened the red bandana tied across his forehead, pulled a bottle from the counter, and started to pour. "Women tend to like this one," he said. "Of the two premium red wines I have here today, this one has a lower tannin content."

As if that explained everything. I took a sip. It was fruity and full-bodied, but it could have been bold. I wanted to try the other red, the daring one the winemaker saved for men. I was annoyed that he had segregated his wines. Nevertheless, I walked away and sampled local foods while finishing the "feminine" glass.

Dinner time in the medieval quarter of Montpellier.

I was at Montpellier's food and wine festival in honor of writer, humorist, doctor, and all-around lover of good food and wine, Francois Rabelais (1483-1553). (1483-1553). Festival-goers may purchase a booklet of coupons good for exchange at any of the dozens of white-pitched tents along the Promenade du Peyrou, under which Languedoc's finest regional chefs, winemakers, and artisanal cheese creators and bread and patisserie bakers offered their finest culinary creations. Each Rabelais-rouser received a burgundy-colored picnic pouch filled with a glass wine glass, fork, knife, spoon, and napkin. Louis XIV's horse-riding statue held the park and festival center. Some festive soul had placed a great white chef's hat on the king's head.

I returned to the AOC Corbieres tent and found the man in the red banana. My glass was empty again, and I again extended it to him and smiled. "Please give me the red wine you say men prefer this time." He gave me a head-to-toe consideration, smiled mischievously, and poured the wine generously as I handed over another coupon from my booklet. I took a sip. Finally, more tannin meant more earth; the fruit was balanced with strong mineral tones — the ones I imagined locked in the secrets of Languedoc's red earth, especially in Cathar country from which this particular vintage sprang. It was at once silky and earthy, like green moss and mushrooms. I held my glass in a toast to Monsieur. He nodded in return, a twinkle in his eye.

Montpellier: A Geographical and Cultural Center in Languedoc

Montpellier is central to so many delightful destinations that most people use it only as their transfer point, often on their way to the more known and expensive Provence. But here, there is a similar sunny disposition amongst the locals who welcome visitors and encourage them to partake of the fruits of the land. Some 40% of wine produced in France comes from Languedoc-Roussillon. The territory is a magnificent mix of wild mountains, hills, forests, and salty shorelines.

Montpellier's central position makes it a perfect home base in southern France to explore the many wine and food-producing hinterlands of Languedoc-Roussillon. But before you venture beyond the city's fortress walls, visit the daily markets, one covered, Les Halles, and one in the open air on the edge of the Place de la Comédie near the tourist office. Also, soak up the many wine and food shops dedicated to the indigenous local products of the land and sea. Finally, I will sample these same delights in the restaurants contained within the old stone walls of the old city.

Montpellier has been a university town for several centuries. It also has an engaging 16th-century teaching garden, the Jardin des Plantes, near the famous medical school. Here, medicinal and decorative plants grow from near and far. The edible and medicinal herbs and flowers are clearly marked. Frogs, fish, ducks, and the occasional cat inhabit the greenery.

The Spanish-French Connection

Another fascinating aspect of Montpellier is the solid Spanish-French connection. This cross-Pyrenean link goes back hundreds and thousands of years but was recently reinvigorated by the Spanish, who fled Franco's Civil War and made this part of France their new home. Almost every other person I met in Montpellier had some connection, recent or more distant, to Spain. From the ancient cultural crossroads shared between Catalan and Occitan cultures, the train between Barcelona and Montpellier reinvigorates the connection daily, filled with people coming and going from each country, like a living and active cultural tapestry.

Beebe Bahrami is a freelance writer and cultural anthropologist specializing in travel, food and wine, and cross-cultural writing.