Aude inspiring

AUDE is that part of France north of the Pyrenees and south of Beziers and it benefits from so many influences. It has the Mediterranean running up its eastern edge, The snow covered mountains to the south, rich agricultural land stretching to the west, much more of the same to the north and within it, wine, history, wine, unspoiled land, wine, a culture of its own, and did I mention... wine?

A lot of the wine which finds its way to our shops originates in this area, so as it happens a lot of us know a bit more about this part of France than we might have originally imagined. Think about Muscat, Minervois, Corbieres, Fitou, Cotes du Roussillon and you have only just scratched the surface. It was my quest to try it all, but sadly no mere mortal can rise to that challenge.

Wine is important to this region, along with tourism. I flew into Montpellier, one of the many airports serving this area and took my rental car down to Narbonne, as a starting point. Montpellier, by the way, is a disaster to drive through, especially when your satnav is insistent on you taking a left into a no entry. It is best avoided if at all possible.

The roads here are good, as one might expect, seeing as it is the main corridor with Spain. You have a choice of using the peage which means paying the toll charges, or digging out the perfectly good equivalent of our A roads – this latter option simply means more roundabouts. Have a care on the peage, some of the toll booths only take credit cards and not all UK debit cards are recognised. By the time you discover which card is good there will be a queue of angry French drivers behind you.

I skirted past Narbonne, as my first port of call was a grand winery and hotel closer to the sea. It has the most appropriate name of Chateau L’Hospitalet.

The winery, under the brand name of Gerard Bertrand, sells annually seven million bottles of wine, many to the UK.

As well as handling its own production of grapes, it acts as a producer for approximately 40 others growers in the region. Prices at the yard range from 5.50 euros to 43 euros. The hotel offers comfortable rooms with a relaxed feel to them.

From here I moved on to Carcassonne, a city with more history than you could imagine. You are drawn into the old (upper) city which is where, amazingly enough, you will find the old buildings, some dating back 800 years in part. It is well preserved and well restored and it’s only sad that most of the souvenirs are junk. Top location for polythene swords and paper chainmail. Avoid eating in the square, it really is a tourist trap with prices to match.

Close to Carcassonne I met two super people who own a vineyard. Albert and Gaelle Sarrail have taken over the family business of producing fabulous wine, and between them they are doing a brilliant job of it. As well as producing really drinkable wine, they are also working hard at producing a complete wine experience for visitors from handpicking grapes, through to blending an individual wine to take home, and horse riding and picnicking with lots of wine to drink. It really is worth a serious look.

Over the hills and onto the mountain village of Belesta and the stunning and unique Riberach Hotel, which funnily enough includes its own winery. Luc Richard and his wife, Karin Puhringer, are both architects of international repute and together they have brought their combined talents in to convert the disused wine co-operative into one of the top locations of its kind in the south of France. It is no exaggeration to talk of people driving from Toulouse or Barcelona simply to dine at the Riberach.

The hotel has been given a unique and contemporary look inside incorporating many of the original features of the building, while the outside has painstakingly preserved its original identity. Food is stunning, as Luc gives his chef carte blanch to create while using ingredients produced from within 50km of the village. It hardly requires saying that the wine is unique as is Luc and Karin’s vision of the hotel. Hardly any is exported, as the French want it all for themselves: they hate parting with the best.

My final leg of the journey was to the coast and the typically pretty seaside resort of Banyuls sur Mer. It was grey and wet and really quite sad on the day, but it was clear that under normal Mediterranean conditions it would be a super place to hang out, sunbathe, paddle, swim and enjoy freshly caught and cooked seafood at Le Fanal restaurant.

My hotel for the night was just out of town, the Hotel du Golfe, which commands impressive views of the sea a mere 100 metres from its door.

I can now understand why those in the know settle here. I just can’t work out why more of us do not visit here as well.

How to get there

• easyJet operate flights into Montpellier from several UK regional airports and direct flights between Newcastle and Barcelona (two hours by car from Aude) on a daily basis.

Please note all easyJet flights are now using online check-in rather than airport check-in.

This can be done up to 30 days in advance of your flight, see easyjet.com for information

•  Airports in the region also include Beziers, Perpignan, Nimes and Carcassonne

Where to stay

• Hotels used include Chateau L’Hospitalet, Narbonne gerard-bertrand.com, Hotel Le Mercure, Carcassonne mercure.com, Riberach Hotel, Belesta riberach.com, Hotel Du Golfe, Argeles sur Mer hoiteldugolfe-argeles.com

Places to visit

• Places to visit include Abbaye De Fontfroide, Narbonne fontfroide.com, Citie de Carcassonne, Fortresse De Salses, Salses le Chateau salese.monuments-nationaux.fr Castelnou (one of France’s most beautiful villages)
• Sarrail wines and activities vignobles-sarrail.fr
• Forget maps, use satnav, it will make life so much easier. While companies such as Europcar often supply this as standard, it makes sense to take your own just in case. Be sure to have up to date Western Europe maps installed.
• For general information of Languedoc-Roussillon, see destinationsuddefrance.com