Everything in between

Beautiful villages meet bountiful vineyards in a corner of Gironde, discovers Joanna Leggett as she explores the wine region of Entre-Deux-Mers

- Joanna Leggett

How times change! The ancient land of Entre-Deux-Mers, nestled in the Gironde department just south-east of Bordeaux, was once home to mixed farming and orchards, little-known save for the somewhat unglamorous though reputable white wine produced there. Today, it’s a prolific wine region and one of the principal sources of Bordeaux red and Bordeaux Superieur, as well as many whites, partly thanks to the substantial châteaux which brought worldwide recognition for the area’s vintages.

There are so many wines and varietals to try, and so little time! But to learn more about the region itself, let’s go back to the beginning.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

I had always thought (wrongly, as I now know) that the area known as Entre-Deux-Mers had something to do with the literal translation, of being ‘between two seas’. The Atlantic coast is to the west, but surely, it’s a long way across and down to the Med?

In reality, the name refers to the tidal estuaries of the lower Dordogne and Garonne rivers, which form the boundaries of the region. They converge north of Bordeaux, before joining the strong tidal currents of the Gironde estuary. The ‘Mers’ part of the name is, therefore, an evolution of ‘marée’, the French for tides.

On the subject of tides, the Garonne river, which forms the southern border of the wine region, is one of the few rivers in the world to boast a tidal bore. Between June and September – the best months to witness this phenomenon, I’m told – surfers take advantage of its flow to ‘ride along on the crest of a wave’ as some old song goes (I may have paraphrased this ditty!).