Who knows why, but where wine is concerned, what counts for Thierry Cayla is the compass point leading to the South. For him, only wines bursting with sunshine, with a deep colour and robe, a strong tannin structure and very fruity flavour will do. So, a selection of wines originating mainly from the South and South-West is available on the rez-de-chaussée wine list, from Cahors to Bergerac, from Irouleguy to Vacqueyras. 
The list is constantly renewed, sourced from a turnover of friends who grow wine, providing about fifteen red wines as well as a handfulof white wines.

The selection of wines is generally developed according to the favourites of the moment of Thierry and Pascal Caron. Their criteria for selection are: either very typical wines or others that are total "UFOs", that is, wines that do not correspond to any model or pattern.
The choices of the rez-de-chaussée are not dictated by any intellectual reasons, or great theories on fullness or astringency, but simply a sensuous approach that allows their particular taste to be their guide. A selection of wines from the South with moderate prices, some almost feminine wines such as Saint Chinian or Corbières, some more muscular wines, as well as wines with a mineral character such as Madiran. Only two fixtures cannot be budged from the wine list: the Marcillac and the Faugères. You can drink these all year long.

 Four types of white wine and four of red wine that can be ordered by the glass.

And behind the wine, there are people. Thus, beyond the colour of the wine, it is probably that complicity between wine growing Southerners and between those who speak the same langue d'oc (the dialect of the South) which drives Thierry Cayla,  good native of the left bank of the Lot River that he is, to give preference to his friends. And it is not unusual for wine growers to pay him a visit just so that he can taste their latest nectar.

When you have lived in the Aveyron, you often have a strong attachment to nature. In general, people don't like to seeing nature spoilt. As a good native from Rouergue, Thierry is no exception to the rule;  being close to nature is for him a sort of philosophy of life. For example, every week he takes his vegetable peelings to the Jardin du Ruisseau, a garden shared by  people from his neighbourhood, to be added to the compost heap.

Similarly, the team at the rez-de-chaussée goes for products cultivated and grown in respect of the earth. And this applies to both solid and liquid food. Indeed, Thierry and Pascal select wines produced by wine growers who respect their vineyards and who employ the methods of their ancestors, such as Thierry's grandfather.

Of course, it is no more than a drop of wine ... when one imagines the tons of chemical products that French vineyards haved ingested over the last thirty years. Nevertheless, the example of the rez-de-chaussée deserves reflection.

Thus, most of the wines on offer in the rez-de-chaussée are grown using biodynamics, often the produce of organic agriculture. In such cases, what is important is not the percentage of alcohol, nor the type of barrel, but rather the taste, the lightness, the respect of nature and its rhythms; wines fermented with local yeasts, vines harvested according to the moon and grown without weed-killers. The percentage of alcohol may be lower, the liquid a little more cloudy perhaps, but these are fruitier and younger nectars.

But choosing the organic route is not always simple. For example, keeping organic wines can sometimes throw up surprises, such as when an organic wine has a second "maleolactic"* fermentation, after six months. However, Thierry and Pascal are on the alert, and know how to detect sulphured wines.

* Lactic bacteria which can be found on berries turn malic acid into lactic acid, which softens wine and restabilizes its acidity.