Food and wine in the Vendee

The traditional gastronomy of the Vendee comes from its rural history, having been a region of small farms, with cattle, sheep, pigs, fowl and market gardening. The recent movement towards quality farming production is well underway in the Vendee and you will find many “Label-Rouge” products with guaranteed quality and traceability as well as organic produce.

One of the staple foods is the famous white beans, known as “Mogettes”, which are served flavoured with garlic and accompanying generous slices of grilled local ham. You will find this on the menu in many traditional restaurants.

The “Label Rouge” chickens produced around Challans are renowned for their quality and well worth the little extra paid. Duck is a more recent adventure in the Vendee and you can now find excellent “magret”, “confit” and duck patés. The island of Noirmoutier has light sandy soil which produces excellent new potatoes. There are several local cheeses to try including “Misotte”, and “Halbran”, along with goat’s cheeses similar to those of the Charente region.

The wine producers of the Vendee continue to work towards quality and the region is now credited with an AOC label guaranteeing the grape varieties and methods used in the “Fief Vendeen” wines. The Vendee is best know for its refreshing rosé wines and its light white wines destined to accompany sea-food, but there are also some very good red wines to discover.

Useful links for Vendee wines:
Buy Vendee wines on line
Mourat - wine produce at Mareuil sur Lay
Coirier - wine producer at Pissotte