Merlot
Fruit & softness
Plum, cherry and a rounded feel. A useful starting point for understanding the generous fruit in many local reds.
A taste of the Dordogne
Bergerac wines.
Find your favourite.
From a fresh white with lunch to golden Monbazillac beside a cheese board. Discover the grapes, names and food pairings that make choosing a local bottle part of the pleasure.
Start with what you enjoy
Six taste pathsSeven grapes to recogniseA place at your table
A little knowledge, more enjoyment
Choose with
quiet confidence.
You do not need to memorise a wine atlas. Begin with the styles you already enjoy, recognise a few names and ask the producer or restaurant for a suggestion.
This guide explains the wine in your glass. Our separate vineyard guide helps you plan the visit.
Plan a wine-tasting day →Your palate is the starting point
What sounds
like your glass?
Choose a style to discover the names behind it. These are useful tasting directions, not a ranking of quality.
Crisp & dryBergerac Sec, Montravel Sec and dry Côtes de DurasFresh roséBergerac Rosé and Côtes de Duras RoséFruit-driven redBergerac Rouge and Côtes de Duras RougeStructured redPécharmant, Côtes de Bergerac Rouge and Montravel RougeGently sweetRosette, Côtes de Bergerac Moelleux, Côtes de Montravel and Côtes de Duras MoelleuxRich & goldenMonbazillac, Saussignac and Haut-Montravel
Three easy starting points
Usually choose Sauvignon? Try Bergerac Sec. Enjoy Merlot? Begin with Bergerac Rouge. Love a golden sweet wine? Discover Monbazillac.
Three words to recognise
Sec means dry. Moelleux points towards a softer sweet style. Liquoreux describes richer, concentrated sweet wine.
See the styles together
Six expressions.
One generous region.
Compare the character of each style. Colour is only a visual cue: these are distinct families, not a single sweetness scale.
Crisp & dry
Citrus & freshness
Fresh rosé
Bright red fruit
Fruit-driven red
Softness & fruit
Structured red
Tannin & depth
Gently sweet
Floral & rounded
Rich & golden
Honeyed & concentrated
Meet the ingredients
Familiar grapes.
A local expression.
Blending lets a winemaker combine fruit, freshness, texture and perfume. These seven names are a useful introduction, rather than a complete list of every permitted variety.
Four red grapes
Cabernet Sauvignon
Structure & depth
Blackcurrant and a firmer framework. It can help a blend develop over time.
Cabernet Franc
Freshness & perfume
Red fruit, floral or herbal notes and aromatic lift alongside the other red varieties.
Malbec · Côt
Colour & character
Deep colour and dark fruit. Another distinctive voice in the region’s red blends.
Three white grapes
Sauvignon
Brightness & aroma
Citrus, orchard fruit and freshness; a familiar name in the region’s dry whites.
Sémillon
Body & texture
Roundness and richness, with an important role in both dry and concentrated sweet wines.
Muscadelle
Floral perfume
A fragrant supporting part in many blends, bringing a floral accent.
Names for the wine list
Begin with
the Bergerac family.
Five useful bottles to recognise
Bergerac and Côtes de Bergerac cover several styles. Read the colour and sweetness description as well as the appellation.
Bergerac Blanc Sec
Fresh, aromatic dry white
Start here for citrus, white fruit and freshness. Some producers make a fuller, oak-matured version: ask whether a bottle is crisp or more textured.
Bergerac Rosé
Bright fruit, served cool
Made from the local red grape family, rosé offers another expression of the vineyard. Look for freshness and fruit rather than judging sweetness by its colour.
Bergerac Rouge
Supple, fruit-led red
Often an approachable introduction to local reds. Merlot and the Cabernet varieties are familiar names; producer and vintage shape the final blend.
Côtes de Bergerac Rouge
Depth, structure and time
A useful name for a fuller red with more concentration and potential to mature. Ask whether the particular bottle is ready to enjoy now.
Côtes de Bergerac Blanc
A gently sweet white
Look for the moelleux style: rounded fruit and sweetness balanced by freshness. It offers a softer introduction to the region’s sweet wines.
Which red?
Bergerac Rouge is often the softer introduction. Côtes de Bergerac Rouge points towards more depth and structure. These are helpful expectations; the producer’s individual bottle remains the best guide.
Which bottle first?
Choose the meal and mood, then the style. Ask for a dry white, rosé, supple red, fuller red or moelleux white and let the wine merchant guide you.
Honeyed fruit, beautiful balance
The gold of
Monbazillac.
An appellation since 1936, this celebrated sweet white comes from the hills south of Bergerac. It can be a revelation with food, particularly when sweetness meets a savoury contrast.
Why is it sweet?
Very ripe grapes retain natural sugar in the finished wine. Suitable moisture and drying conditions can encourage noble rot, concentrating sugars and aromas; the harvest is selected by hand in successive passes.
Three familiar grapes
Sémillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle make the core family. Ripeness, vineyard conditions and winemaking give them a different expression here.
Gold in the glass
Honey, citrus peel, stone fruit and floral notes are useful reference points. Freshness balances the sweetness; individual bottles can be quite different.
Classic or grains nobles?
Classic Monbazillac is the natural introduction. Sélection de Grains Nobles identifies a more concentrated expression; ask the producer how that cuvée differs.
A place at the table
Try a savoury contrast such as blue cheese, or a fruit dessert. Foie gras is a traditional regional pairing.
Can it age?
Good examples can develop honeyed, dried-fruit complexity with bottle age. Storage and the individual wine matter: ask when to enjoy your bottle.
A remarkable bottle-age story
INAO records fourteen bottles of 1747 Monbazillac recovered from a shipwreck off Hastings in 1984. Exceptional sealed, cool storage helped preserve them: a fascinating piece of history, rather than a suggested keeping time for an ordinary bottle.
Read the INAO Monbazillac history ↗A red with a sense of place
The depth of
Pécharmant.
A red-only appellation on the hills around Bergerac. Explore it when you enjoy a wine with structure and the potential to develop.
A particular hillside setting
North-east of Bergerac, flint-rich soils and a deeper clay layer called tran form part of the appellation’s identity.
A wine built from a blend
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec are the permitted varieties. INAO says no one variety may exceed 65% of the blend.
What to look for
Dark colour, red fruit and plum, with firmer tannins. Oak ageing can add toasted or vanilla notes.
Bergerac Rouge or Pécharmant?
Begin with Bergerac Rouge for a typically fruit-led introduction; explore Pécharmant when you want a more structured red.
Give the bottle its moment
Tannins can soften as the wine matures. Ask whether to drink now, decant or keep it longer.
With a Périgord supper
Duck, mushrooms and fuller savoury dishes offer rewarding starting points. The preparation matters as much as the ingredient.
The story behind the name
Official appellation recognition came in 1946. The name’s Occitan pech refers to a hill: a useful reminder of its setting.
Remember the hills, the blend, the time
A particular place, several grape varieties and a bottle’s development all shape the experience.
Keep a little room for discovery
Beyond the
familiar names.
Rosette, Saussignac, Montravel and Duras open up more of the region’s variety.
Rosette
North-west of Bergerac, Rosette offers a gently sweet white with floral fruit and freshness. Look for Sauvignon, Sémillon and Muscadelle; try a savoury-sweet contrast at the table.
Discover Rosette ↗Saussignac
This concentrated sweet white comes from hills south-west of Bergerac. Selective picking and over-ripe fruit help shape its honeyed character. Sémillon, Sauvignon, Muscadelle and Chenin feature in the official regional profile.
Discover Saussignac ↗Montravel: read the whole name
This western wine area gives four distinct styles across three appellations. A few extra words on the label make a real difference.
Montravel Sec
Dry white, from fresh and aromatic to more textured barrel-aged examples.
Montravel Rouge
A concentrated red, often with the structure to develop in bottle.
Côtes de Montravel
Moelleux white: softness and sweetness alongside freshness.
Haut-Montravel
Rich sweet white, made with concentrated grapes selected in successive harvests.
Côtes de Duras
Across the border in Lot-et-Garonne, Duras offers red, rosé, dry and sweet white. Ask which style is in the bottle; the appellation name alone does not settle that question.
A small shortlist to remember
Rosette for gentle sweetness; Saussignac for concentration; Montravel for a choice of styles; Côtes de Duras for another wine-country day.
The label, made simple
A few clues.
A clearer choice.
Five things to check first
Place, style, producer, vintage and alcohol. The back label or the person serving can fill in details that are absent from the front.
An illustrated Pécharmant label
The numbers connect the example with the explanations. This is a teaching illustration, not a real producer or a complete regulatory label.
1Château Exemple
2PÉCHARMANT
3Appellation d’origine protégée
42024
513,5 % vol.
675 cl
7Mis en bouteille au château
8Produit de France
Producer
A fictional estate name, used only to explain the label.
Appellation
The protected name identifies this local red-wine appellation.
Origin designation
AOP is the protected-origin designation; AOC is the traditional French term.
Vintage
The stated harvest year, rather than the year you buy or open the bottle.
Alcohol
Alcoholic strength by volume, not a measure of sweetness or quality.
Bottle size
The volume in the bottle: here, 750 ml.
Bottling
Bottled at the château. Check the actual bottle for its bottler’s details.
Country
The country of provenance; the appellation gives a more precise origin.
AOP, IGP, château: what do they tell me?
AOP and IGP identify protected origin frameworks with production rules. Château and domaine are regulated estate terms. None is a score for how much you will enjoy the wine.
Sec, demi-sec, moelleux and doux
For still wines, think dry, off-dry, sweeter and sweet. Liquoreux is also used for concentrated sweet styles. Sparkling-wine sweetness terminology follows different thresholds: use the producer’s description when unsure.
Why is there a QR code on the bottle?
It may link to ingredients and nutrition information. Where that information is supplied electronically, allergens and energy information still appear on the physical label.
Official French label guidance ↗Another local story
Périgord wines.
The Domme connection.
IGP Périgord adds another geographical identity to the Dordogne wine story. Vin de Domme is an authorised complementary name within that framework.
The modern revival began with an association in 1993 and a cooperative cellar at Moncalou. It gives a visit near Domme another point of interest.
Read the INAO Périgord profile ↗Four other useful clues
- Cépage
- The grape variety. A bottle may be a blend even when varieties are not prominent on the front.
- Élevé en fût de chêne
- Aged in oak barrels; the effect depends on the wine and winemaking.
- Contient des sulfites
- Contains sulfites: allergen information, rather than a tasting description.
- Serving advice
- Use the producer’s suggested temperature, opening and food guidance for that particular bottle.
Bring the region to your table
A bottle.
Something lovely to eat.
Pairing is an invitation to experiment. Begin with the dish’s richness, seasoning and sauce, then choose a wine you enjoy.
Crisp & dry
Fish · goat’s cheese · fresh vegetables
Bergerac Sec, Montravel Sec or dry Côtes de Duras. A fuller barrel-aged white can also suit a creamy sauce.
Fresh rosé
Grilled vegetables · picnic food · light spice
Bergerac or Côtes de Duras Rosé makes an easy starting point for a varied lunch.
Fruit-driven red
Poultry · charcuterie · grilled duck
Try Bergerac Rouge or Côtes de Duras Rouge when you want generous fruit and a softer feel.
Structured red
Confit duck · mushrooms · beef
Pécharmant, Côtes de Bergerac Rouge or Montravel Rouge can stand beside a fuller meal.
Gently sweet
Pâté · soft blue cheese · fruit with poultry
Rosette and moelleux whites offer a lovely contrast to salt or a little sweetness in the dish.
Rich & golden
Blue cheese · walnuts · fruit desserts
Monbazillac, Saussignac or Haut-Montravel: match the richness of the bottle to the dish.
Six flavours of the Dordogne
- Duck
- A fruit-led red with grilled duck; a structured red with richer confit.
- Ceps & mushrooms
- Try a mature red; consider a textured white with a creamy preparation.
- Truffle
- Match the whole dish: structured red with beef, barrel-aged dry white with poultry.
- Walnuts
- Think about the recipe: cheese, a savoury dish or a walnut dessert suggest different bottles.
- Goat & blue cheese
- Fresh dry white with goat’s cheese; a sweet-wine contrast with blue cheese.
- Foie gras
- Sweet white is the regional classic; an oak-matured dry white offers another direction.
Pairing ideas are starting points adapted from our original guide and checked against the regional wine body’s food guide. Bottles, recipes and personal tastes vary.
Make it part of your holiday
From the name
to the vineyard.
Take one or two favourite styles into a tasting. Ask about the vintage, the blend and a food pairing; bring home a bottle with a story attached.
Guide reviewed September 2026. Technical references come from the regional wine body, INAO and French consumer guidance. Producer and vintage differences are part of the discovery.
At the end of a lovely day
Back to
your own retreat.
Return to the garden, the private seasonal pool and an evening together. A Dordogne holiday leaves room for both exploring and simply being here.