Named for the tall white hats worn by chefs (toques) and for more weighty architectural features – bell towers (clochers) – the Toques et Clochers auction and its accompanying festivities are in their 23rd year.
Run by Limoux's Sieur d'Arques co-operative winery, the auction was launched in 1990 to promote the region's wines. At this month’s sale, the average price of a barrel increased by five percent. Sieur d'Arques chief executive Alain Gayda noted that while the 2012 Hospices de Nuits auction held in Burgundy in March had suffered a drop of 12 percent, “we seem to have been spared the consequences of the economic crisis.”
The co-op, however, has not been without its problems. In 2010, Sieur d’Arques was fined $237,300 (€180,000) for selling blended wine labeled as pure pinot noir to United States producer E. & J. Gallo for its popular Red Bicyclette brand. The fine was reduced to $197,800 (€150,000) last year on appeal.
The Toques et Clochers auction offers the “most promising” barrels from AOC Limoux’s latest vintage. The most expensive of this year’s 100 lots? A barrel (300 bottles) of Clocher La Serpent, produced by André Cavaille and bought by Indonesian wine distributor PT Danisa for $11,500 (€8,800).
A share of the auction’s proceeds goes to renovate one of the village bell towers in the region. This year, the small village of Antugnac hosted the festivities, with a street party attended by an estimated 35,000 world-traversing wine aficionados. Music, dancing, and food and wine tasting were followed by a fireworks display that lit up the village’s 12th-century bell tower, recently spruced up with Toques et Clochers funding.
The Limoux wine region claims to have invented sparkling wine in 1531 – long before Christopher Merret’s 1662 presentation to the Royal Society in London on sparkling wines, or the start of production in Champagne. Benedictine monks from the St Hilaire Abbey reputedly discovered by accident that wine could be made into an effervescent style, resulting in the first Blanquette de Limoux. Records show that a local lord, Le Sieur d’Arques, toasted his military victories with “flasks of Blanquette” and in 1946, his name was given to the Sieur d’Arques winery.
The 2012 Toques et Clochers wine auction was conducted by Sotheby’s and attended by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who owns the Domaine de Baron'arques in nearby Saint-Polycarpe. Thanking the baroness for her support, the president of Sieur d’Arques, Pierre Mirc, said: “You embody French good manners!”
For this year’s event, the city of Rio de Janeiro was invited to “present its gastronomy and its way of life.” Three Brazilian chefs took up the challenge: Roberta Sudbrack, Claude Troisgros and Roland Villard. They devised a gourmet menu for almost a thousand guests, while leading Rio sommelier Dionísio Chaves selected the “most exceptional” wines of Sieur d’Arques.
The menu was as follows:
- Choux Pastry Corn Puff with Foie Gras; Tartare of Pumpkin; Crisp of Ricotta and Guava Jelly; Tapioca Caviar; Blinis with Prawns in Coconut Cream; Manioc Meatball + 2010 Sieur d’Arques Première Bulle Rosé
- Black Bean Soup and Manioc Biscuit with Red Pepper + 2007 Toques et Clochers Crémant
- Langoustines on Chayote (pear squash) and Peanut Milk + 2007 Clocher de Bouriège Limoux
- Brazilian Grouper with Caramelized Banana and Annato (spiced) Butter + 2007 Clocher de Pomas Limoux
- Confit of Breaded Beef, Purée of Smoked Baroa Potato and Açai Sauce + Toques et Clochers Occursus
- Pear and Tapioca Tart + Sieur d’Arques Vendanges de Décembre
- Chocolate Truffle Maison RS; Passionfruit Cream and Brazil Nut Crumble; Chocolate Macaron with coffee and cachaça (white rum) filling; Chocolate Bonbon and Cupuaçu Mousse
- Ipanema Bourbon Coffee
As well as being the final event of Toques et Clochers, the gala dinner marks the end of the annual Limoux Fécos (carnival), which dates back to 1604. When guests have finished eating, masked pierrots (clowns) wielding carabenes (bulrush canes) lead them in a bacchanalian dance, said to represent the treading of the grapes. Hang on to your toques.
