ACTIVITIES

Here you will find all the information you need about tasting levels, restaurants and extra activities to enable you to fill in the quote form.

WINE TASTINGS Level 1 (Beginners/Intermediate) is for those who enjoy wine but do not have a great deal of previous knowledge. The tastings are usually arranged with pairs of wines made from the same grape variety but grown in different climates. There will be information on cellaring wine, restaurant lists, serving wine and which wines work best with which food. Level 2 (Intermediate/Advanced) is for those who already have a good understanding of wine and want to deepen their knowledge. The tastings have a theme, for example 'The fashion for oak' or 'Luscious whites: can they thrill without noble rot?'. Normally, I choose the themes but I am happy to devise tastings on a subject of your choice, for example the communes of Bordeaux or the villages of Champagne.

Some of the most interesting tastings focus on sweet whites (often woefully unappreciated), fortified wines or Armagnac and Cognac, as opposed to classic dry white or red wines.

The elegant tasting room at Chateau Bouillon

RESTAURANTS

Les Prés d'Eugénie: run by one of France's most famous chefs, Michel Guérard, who has the coveted award of 3 Michelin rosettes. Classic French cooking at its best.
La Ferme aux Grives: also owned by the Guérards at Eugénie-les-Bains. An auberge style restaurant with a wonderful setting and a relaxed ambience. The huge fireplace is used for roasting meat on a spit.
Pain Adour et Fantaisie: 1 Michelin rosette. A handsome building in the village square, with an attractive terrace on the bank of the Adour River, where you can eat out on warm evenings.
Domaine de Bassibé: Oliver Lacroix is a very accomplished chef and the hotel prides itself on its cooking. The restaurant is in a cleverly converted barn.
Les Arcades, Duhort-Bachen: Good cooking in a restaurant on the edge of an attractive village square. You sit under the arcade, with a vine running along the wall.
Ferme-Auberge, Morlanne: All the ingredients are home-grown, with duck being the mouth-watering speciality.

OTHER ACTIVITIES Domaine de Cabidos: This vineyard has recently been replanted by the de Nazelle family. The winery is very well conceived; their consultant is a Swiss wine-maker of repute and the resultant wine is excellent. Château d'Amou: Not a vineyard but a private house, which was designed by Mansard and has a beautifully proportioned facade. We can visit the house with the owner, the Marquis d'Amou, and enjoy an aperitif or a light lunch afterwards. Golf: About 5 minutes from Eugénie-les-Bains is the attractive 9-hole course at Bahus-Soubiran. However if you want to devote more time to the sport you can play on the oldest course on the Continent, which is at Pau. Clubs and trolleys can be hired.

Domaine de Cabidos

Thermal spa treatments: these use the beneficial waters of Eugénie-les-Bains in a luxury setting. Especially recommended is the white mud bath in which you float effortlessly.
You will be refreshed with specially concocted herbal tea.