Languedoc dogs

Look out, winery dogs of Napa Valley. Yes, I know you’re cute and featured in all sorts of books and articles, but let me tell you after a week touring the French wine country of the Languedoc I’ve seen some cute little chiens that can certainly give you a run for your money.

Take Bruno, Mauzac and Bacchus of the Rives-Blanques winery. Bruno’s had his own cover, in the wine magazine Decanter, and scored a spot in a Hugh Grant movie. The magazine gave him “null” points as a guard dog in their write-up, though, which I would have to agree with unless throwing yourself on your back and begging for a belly rub is some sort of stealth disarming tactic.

And then there’s Pierre Bories’ dog at Chateau Ollieux Romanis. He looks like a sheepdog and has a 100-watt grin, especially when he’s looking at Pierre. “What kind of dog is he?” we asked Pierre. “A market dog,” he replied. His wife, a doctor and mother of four, bought it on an impulse at the market one day and there they were, proud dog-owners.

Perhaps our favorite dog of the trip was a hound-ish type who was loitering near the Auberge l’Ecole restaurant in St. Jean Minervois. (Yes, this is where I had my life-changing cassoulet experience. You want to talk about Rapture? Give me a dish of that and I’ll show you rapture.)

We never did get the friendly dog’s name. But she got some of our roast sausage.

Here’s a slideshow of some of our animal encounters.

Cheers!