Domaine de Perches, Gaillac, France
Domaine de Perches is the ultimate French country house escape, staying at a welcoming boutique hotel. The owners have breathed new life into a 17th-century oatmeal-colored wine château. Six years ago, there were holes and barn owls in what is now the roof of the Grand Salon.
What was once a cellar housing thousands of bottles of Gaillac wine has been transformed into a light-filled drawing room, leading into an open dining area.
Along from the cellar, six concrete wine vats remain. “Our demolition expert would not touch them. He feared the house would crumble around us,” said one of the owners ruefully.
The welcome
You are a house guest – there is no reception. Shout a “hello” when you arrive. The owners will emerge to show you to your room and offer coffee, tea or wine. Then they will offer a tour of the house and its four hectares of grounds, pausing to show you views across their additional hectares of vineyards towards the Montaigne Noire.
They will talk of their plans to install a gym, to host a resident artist in what was once the grape-pickers dormitory, to place outdoor furniture by a Givenchy style lily pond, to cover the car park with solar panels to provide the power for the grape-presses. No one can accuse them of a lack of vision.
The rooms
I am a returning guest. Last time, I stayed in the main house, in an air-conditioned, large, high ceilinged room, with a separate dressing area, leading into the bathroom.
This time I am in the Malbec suite, named after a grape as are all 11 rooms, with the best views over the wine country landscape. Every room is a collage of restful neutral creams and oatmeals, artful flower arrangements, and libraries of interior design magazines.
In the suite’s spacious lounge there is a sofa, armchairs, a writing desk, a coffee table, and side tables which are homes for yet more interior design magazines. There is neither television nor radio to disturb the birdsong of this French rural retreat.
Rooms are decorated by art collected from around the world. Fluid, vivid oil paintings, vibrant Berber throws from Morocco, rugs from Peru and India. The owners are passionate collectors and travelers.
The bathroom
Bathrooms are on a grandiose scale rarely found in a hotel. My well-lit bathroom had two washbasins and meters of space for all the accouterments of ablution.
Then there was a walk-in monsoon shower. Not just with virtually instantaneous hot-water but also sensitive and responsive controls.
The facilities
There’s a tennis court, a swimming pool with unbelievable views and acres of land to meander across. Drawing rooms to read and relax in.
Dinner begins with a bottle of something bubbly. There is no menu but they always check on possible allergies, likes, and dislikes, all well in advance.
Between the chatter, four courses arrive as if by magic, each accompanied by a local wine, usually with the story of its provenance. A chilled gazpacho style soup to start, then some asparagus and salmon or walnuts and goats cheese. For the main course seared veal or a tuna steak and finally a strawberry sorbet or the chef’s cherry and pear tart.
Every night you will dine in a different location: one night in the Old Cellar, another in the Orangery, or if the weather is fine by the pool.
The location
Near Galliac, 35 miles north-east of Toulouse airport, Domaine sits amongst the quiet roads of the Tarn. Perfectly located for touring the Bastides Villages, including two of France’s Plus Beau Villages – Castelnau-de-Montmiral and Cordes-sur-Ciel.
The owners will help you plan your day’s itinerary. Albi with its Toulouse-Lautrec Museum is at the heart of the region, though surprisingly the Museum, in the spirit of the siesta, closes for a lengthy lunch.
Other nice touches
Breakfast epitomizes the French good life. Homemade yogurt, baked in the oven in winter, baked in the sun during the summer. Fresh bread from the Gaillac bakery, cheeses from the market, and amongst the preserves, a fig jam made by a neighbor.
Cost
Rooms begin from €150 per night for bed and breakfast, rising to €215 for the suites. Dinner, including canapés and aperitifs, as well as four courses with wine, with tea or coffee, is €50 Euros per person.
The best bit
The final verdict
To stay at Domaine de Perches is to step into another world, the epitome of the French good life that so many of us dream off. This is a world of art, culture, good company, great food, and fine wines. Once you have visited you will always want to return.
By Michael Edwards