Saint-Émilion: A Land Steeped In Mystical Adventure And Pilgrimage

Forbes

28-03-2025

Hotel de Pavie, what was once the nun's convent.
At the heart of the village of Saint Emilion is a monolithic church, dug underground in the early 12th century. Carved into the limestone, the imposing Gothic portal where one can enter immediately transports you to when Saint Emilion, the man this village was named after, lived as an eremitic monk who lived in a cave where it was said miracles were performed. This happening in the eighth century attracted a following of monks to the village and became a must stop for faithful pilgrims. This unique place became renowned globally as a place of miracles and excellent wine.
Like the terroir of this place, that has been fertile for attracting the faithful, it has also been a place of such rich biodiversity that creates a climate for a rich gastronomic and wine identity.
Hotel de Pavie, once a convent for nuns, that offered shelter and protection to pilgrims and travelers is today a glamarous experience to partake in. Hospitality and welcoming pilgrims have been part of the tradition here for hundreds of years. Today, the hotel is elevating that history to the highest expression through its dining experience and its experiential cultural identity.
A Walk in the Garden dish
The Walk in the Garden dish, is perhaps one of the most fascinating interpretations of the history of Saint Emilion's terroir and biodiversity. A Jackson Pollock-style dish created by chef Yannick Alléno, a Michelin chef, and Sébastien Faramond, the Executive chef of the Hotel de Pavie restaurant says, 'I wanted people to taste the land with this dish, and all that grows here. I find it exciting because each bite is a different flavor, a different vegetable.'
This area though is just a few kilometers from some of the most renowned gastronomic cities, like the mushrooms produced in Rauzan just 15 kilometers from the Saint Saint-Émilion. Where some of the most prized mushrooms come from, or the estate's garden where the beets, dandelions and clovers in the dish were freshly picked just moments prior. The story of these dishes is what your imagination wants, to walk through the land of Saint Emilion. The interpretation though of Chef Faramond, allows for a dream to be surpassed.
In the garden of Hotel de Pavie, everything that grows is seasonal. Now its cabbage, onion, garlic, herbs, tarragon, and during summertime dozens of heirloom tomato varieties. 'During the summer I made a dish with tomato, using the entire fruit. From the seeds, the skin, everything. When you have local and seasonal products, it is exciting to cook, it really becomes obsessive to make the fruit or vegetable the best version of itself.'
Working with the best local producers is also something Chef Faramond is constantly trying to seek out, 'my champignon producer is just 20 minutes from here,' he says with pride. 'The other day I went hiking in the mountains, the very mountains where so much of what we eat comes from. And just a few kilometers from here is our producer of caviar and shrimp. We have such incredible sea and mountain, which means we have such a wide variety of products all close by,' he says.
Right now, the chef is most excited about cooking venison since it is in season. His belief in maintaining the unique gastronomic cultural identity is also deeply tied to cooking seasonally and locally.
Here, there is a real tradition of welcoming the faithful as it was a stop over for people on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella Spain, 'That's also why Saint Emilion became a destination. Since it was en route.' It is interesting to think that this history of openness to the pilgrim is arguably why the cuisine at Hotel de Pavie is even more interesting today.
When the restaurant originally opened, the menu was largely classic Bordeaux-style food. Unctuous meats cooked in red wines are classic. However, with the arrival of Michelin Chef Yannick Alléno, he and Chef Faramond started bringing their different expertise and backgrounds together.
'Alléno came with modern technique, a deep understanding of fermentation, many technical processes but just weren't part of the cuisine of Bordeaux.' The deep knowledge of the local producers, and local recipes, comes from Chef Faramond, but together, the two chefs came up with a synergy you can taste. The modern technique and the ancient recipes of this part of France are what create a new interpretation of Saint Emilion.
'Do we honor the past, or do we only go ultra modern? It's both here. There is a mix of the modern technique and the inspiration of old traditions. Reimagining old dishes with modern technique to create something new.' says Faramond.
These unexpected combinations of the 2 Michelin-starred restaurants of Hotel de Pavie is playing with unexpected combinations, the avant-garde as the French would say, or new and experimental methods. 'We can, we must recreate rules! It is what you enjoy on your palette, rules can be reimagined.' The notion that white wines are the only thing to eat with fish was something the chefs and Sommelier wanted to dismantle. Langostines cooked in a Pavie red wine reduction was something thrilling and surprisingly harmonious.
'I like to bend the rules and get inspiration from the wine. The notes that are naturally there and see how those notes, those existing flavors can be enhanced.'
The chefs and sommelier sit and taste a million times and in concentrating on the wine and making reductions, 'the flavors evolve. Clementine with red wine and lamb doesn't seem to go right? Yet, it works.' he says.
The vineyards of Pavie date back to the Roman era. The name takes its name from the orchards of peaches, or pavies that once grew there. The modern estate was constructed in the late 19th century by buying plots of land from different families. In the 90s Gérard Perse, a Parisian entrepreneur who built his wealth with grocery stores, bought the estate with the hope of producing exceptional wine. The unique terroir produces high quality wines that are often praised by critics and the notoriety is growing. He brought on the controversial wine consultant, Michel Rolland, who cut yields of the vines with severe pruning and green harvesting and encouraged malolactic fermentation in the wine. The result of this has made for a much more concentrated and intense flavor. A sort of concentration for the palette. Perse's goal has always been to find the harmony, the balance, that sweet spot between power and freshness, tradition and innovation. To do that, sometimes you have to cut some vines and do things differently.
Pavie's wines and the expression of the surrounding land are at the core of the inspiration for the dishes and experience at both Hotel de Pavie and the vineyard.
Pavie is now one of two producers of Saint Émilion that are ranked to Premier Grand Cru Classé (A) status, ushering a new sort of pilgrimage for believers, but also for the gastronomicaly and culturally curious.