Place Auguste Pierre Pont
11000 Carcassonne
France

04 68 71 98 71

Make a reservation online or by calling.

Thursdays to Mondays
from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Closed in February.

Less than 20 minutes from O’Vineyards.  (includes time for parking outside the castle and walking to the restaurant)

Price range: 100+ €

The michelin starred restaurant within the castle walls of Carcassonne describes itself as:

The atmosphere in La Barbacane is one of charm and elegance –from its beautiful wood panelled interior and stained glass windows to the enchanting view.

La Barbacane offers a wide range of tempting dishes, created with imagination, flair and artistry. Executive Chef, Jérôme Ryon and Pastry Chef, Régis Chanel, put forth a sophisticated and skilful re-thinking of traditional French cuisine while using ingredients of the highest quality.

La Barbacane received its first Michelin star in 2002, and maintains the same level of excellence today. It remains the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the medieval citadel.

I’ve previously written about dinner at La Barbacane on this blog as they serve O’Vineyards wines alongside their delicious food.

Hotel de la Cité – La Barbacane

We got there a little early (typical Americans) and chilled out in the Piano Lounge / Library area (where the bar is).  They started me off with a nice glass of sparkling rosé from Castelmaure while we waited for our hosts, the Lablaudes.  We nibbled on lucques (local olives) and a few exotic tidbits to start us (e.g. endives, anchovies, radishes, trout egg).  Everything was light and fun and made us hungry for more as we lounged about in the piano bar enjoying the live music.

Jérome Ryon, the chef, and Georges Gracia, the manager and sommelier, guided us through a wonderful and surprising meal.

We started with a shrimp-stuffed jack be little, a small yellow-orange gourd.  It looks like a tiny pumpkin (think bell pepper-sized).  It was a hefty appetizer but I can deal with a little heft.  And it paired wonderfully with a surprising Chenin blanc from Saumur that really cut through the fattier elements of the jack be little.  Truly tasty.  Next up, scallops on a thin pastry garnished in some sort of wonderful sauces and paired with a blend from Rives Blanques.  The dish was garnered with some cabbage and quince confit.  And then duck as the plat de resistance paired with a robust Minervois from Chateau Oupia.

And we finished off with a nice citron sorbet and a startling white from Maury.

Everything was fresh and top notch.

La Barbacane sometimes gets pigeonholed as the more conservative fine dining destination in Carcassonne, with a greater focus on traditional haute cuisine.   But this meal showed that Jérome is very creative when you give him room to breathe.

The wine list

We started off with a sparkling rosé from Castelmaure.

• AOC Saumur Domaine du Collier 2005 “A Foucault” à Chacé
• AOC Limoux Chateau Rives-Blanques 2009 Cuvée “La Trilogie” à Cépie
• AOC Minervois Chateau Oupia 2007 Cuvée Mémoire d’André Famille André Iché

And we finished off with a surprising white from Maury.

Of course, as a wine nerd, one of the coolest parts of the meal is to see how Georges Gracia pairs the various courses with wines.  He chose a lot from the region because he knows how I roll, but he also gave me at least one surprise from the Loire.  And what a surprise!  We started and ended with whites from regions that are much more known for their red wines: Saumur and Maury.  And I have to say I’m very pleased with both.  The Saumur was Chenin although I wouldn’t have guessed that blind.  It had sort of a burnt pear nose that was pretty restrained and then a really intereting body.  I think it was perfect to start off the meal and cut through some of the fat on the pumpkin.  The Maury at the end was a real shocker too.  Delicious sweet wine that could compete with this very tart citron sorbet.  Any wine lovers who eat at the Cité should try to get one of the very talented sommeliers to guide them through a meal.  It’s a real experience for any foodie.

And on top of this great news, they commissioned a painted wine barrel for the special waiting area they’re installing where patrons can enjoy an apperitif and some olives before being seated in the garden.

For those of you who don’t know, I like to paint. I’m more into engravings and prints, but I enjoy picking up a brush from time to time.  So it was a pleasure to do some simple castle landscapes on one of my old barrels.

Now, I think the Jardin asked a few other winemakers for barrels.  I’ll let you know once they’ve all been installed so we can see who made the prettiest barrel.

Georges Gracia, the sommelier and restaurant manager showed me how everything gets done at the restaurant and we took a moment to talk a little about Languedoc wines and O’Vineyards’ place amongst them.  If you speak French, you should just check out the video footage.  Otherwise, the summary is that the Languedoc is going places and winemakers like us hope to be a pretty big part of this future.