In Gironde, the bet of three friends who launched the first Bordeaux pastis

Le Figaro Bordeaux

«The Bordeaux spirit» permeates the stones of the Guyenne Brewery Distillery and the barrels that age there. In Lugasson in Gironde, François Ligouret, Arnaud Dugué and Hugo Caillou, friends for two decades, took over the old disused cellars of the Château de Tertre de Saint-Martin to reinvent the Gironde tradition. Within their new range of spirits, which ranges from floral gin to whiskeys, Bordeaux pastis sets the standard. Three years after the start of this adventure, the production of this pastis should represent 7,000 of the 15,000 bottles that the operation hopes to produce by the end of the year.

Composed of liquorice and anise, harmonized with plants and spices and without added sugar or coloring, this pastis de Guyenne is distinguished by a typically Bordeaux characteristic. The recipe, macerated for 8 to 12 weeks, is “light on the palate”. It was designed to allow it to be enjoyed as an aperitif without numbing the taste buds. A significant detail because it allows you to smell the aromas of a good Bordeaux which would then be uncorked at the table. “We are selling an identity pastis. It represents Gironde from the Arcachon Basin to Entre-deux-mers. It had to allow you to enjoy a glass of wine after tasting it, while retaining a flavor that would not shock drinkers used to big brands.”specifies François Ligouret.

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Culture you wine

“My father is a big pastis drinker. There was always some at aperitif at our house, I wanted to make him proud”also confides the Limousin, aged 37. Formerly an employee in a forestry company based in the Landes, he is now the main project manager of this pastis which has another uniqueness. The Petit Jaune Bordeaux is made from superfine alcohol, vinified by the Blayais distillery using marc and lees from surrounding wine production. A wine culture, characteristic of the Gironde region, claimed by the Guyenne brewery-distillery which has the desire to promote the Bordeaux vineyards. “When we started, the wine crisis in Bordeaux was not as serious. It saddens us and we are committed to working intelligently with the wine growers around us,” thus assures François Ligouret.

Certain brews of beers from the Brasserie Distillerie Guyenne are passed through old wine barrels to imbue their notes before being bottled. The gins and rums from the distillery? Aged in old wine barrels rehabilitated by a local company or purchased directly from Château Roquefort, located two kilometers away. “These links with the wine world help us grow too because they have experience in sales, aging [de l’alcool, NDLR] and technology”confides François Ligouret. The almost forty-year-old and his two associates would also like to offer local winegrowers the opportunity to produce licorice – necessary for making pastis – in order to rehabilitate old plots of uprooted vines.

Terroir

The three “adopted Bordeaux residents” also have this expertise in their field and they are infusing this wine industry in crisis. In their cellars, several barrels intended to diversify the offering of Bordeaux great wines are kept. Some wine estates have also approached the Guyenne Brewery-distillery to promote surplus wines and reach other customers.

And above all, these three men share the spirit of their land: they have the desire to build a family business to pass on to the future generation. Less highlighted for the moment because its sweet liqueurs are still maturing in the cellars, a range of whiskeys should soon come out of the barrels of the Guyenne distillery. “Our dream is that this distillery will be sustainable, that our children will want to take it over and that they will one day be able to sell whiskey that is twenty years old”aspires François Ligouret. In the meantime, Bordeaux elegance can add the anise yellow of pastis to its palette of alcoholic colors.