Wine Village Vignettes #1 (Aug., 2023)
Village Vignettes – Vines, wine, villages
Pouzolles, a wine village in the Languedoc, pop. about 900, the typical number for any of the hundreds of villages in the South of France, all existing on wine and the proceeds.
June 19
Back in paradise briefly in this Languedoc wine village among hundreds. No doubt villages have some problems, too – the “boucherie” in Pouzolles closed years ago, no worries for this vegetarian – but it’s hard to see anything untoward beyond the beauty of a Languedoc wine village in a visit of just a few weeks.
The Languedoc, or rather to give the region its full name, the Languedoc-Rousillon stretches from the region of Provence in the south-east of France to the Spanish border. It is the biggest wine-producing region in the world, responsible for a third of France’s wine. The first vineyards were planted by the Greeks in the fifth century BC at the coast near Narbonne. Roussillon used to be Spanish but France acquired it in
the 1650s. Hence to this day you can hear and see Spanish influences in this region. The name Languedoc is the language of Oc, the original Romance language spoken in Occitania, the region of Europe from Catalonia to northern Italy. In 2016, the regions of France were reduced in number, so the Languedoc-Rousillon and Midi-Pyrénées merged to form Occitanie with Toulouse, the largest city as the capital.
Poppy beautifying a road through the vines.
In the Languedoc it’s all about the vines, olives, wineries or “domaines”, and a wine village, one to be found about every three or four kilometres. The villages exist because of and for the vintning, a long history of viticulture here, going back to the Greeks in the fifth century. French soldiers in the World Wars were provided with daily wine rations from the Languedoc, possibly because it was thin and cheap. The region used to be disparaged as “The Wine Ocean”. Not anymore, the wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon now rival those of the Rhône and Bordeaux. In the past 30 years, grapes of fine quality have produced excellent Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Bonne Santée!
Pouzolles 18th century château
Boulevard Jules-Ferry, Pouzolles
Rose bushes at the end of vines.
Winemakers in the Languedoc grow rose bushes in their vineyards to indicate if there’s any disease about, such as powdery mildew that can be disaster for vines. Rose bushes can be the first to be infected by mildew thereby alerting the winemaker so he can act to save his crop. No vineyard in France is safe from mildew, a terrible disease. Very dry conditions keep it at bay. Fortunately, it seldom rains in the grape growing months.
Window on to vines, Pouzolles
Village in the Vines
Autumn Vines near Pézenas, Languedoc
Allan’s wine collection, some of these 30 years old!
My friend Allan in Tokyo used to give me a few thousand yen each time I visited the south of France. This was to buy several bottles of local reds for his wine collection. I think he still hopes to visit to do some tasting. Meanwhile I’ve been opening older ones and replacing them. I would say there was a 20% success rate, about one in five bottles were fine and drinkable, they’d aged well.
Fitou, 1986, opened in 2014!
One of the best street names I’ve ever seen. Also nearby is Rue du Bouchon, street of the cork!
And suitably at the end of dead-end bottle street, some vines.
Casks of Rosé – only six euros for five litres!
A typical poster in the Languedoc. No screwtops here!
You would be forgiven for thinking Pouzolles is just a wine village, one of the hundreds in the Languedoc, but it’s also artistic and there’s a fine boulangerie, there’s even a hair salon! Here is an example of the art done at an atelier in Pouzolles, the artist Annie has been living there over 15 years, from England originally.
Pain aux céreales, gâteau des pommes, espresso. The boulangerie now serves coffee outside at three little tables, possibly in response to the Pouzolles café, Café des Allées, not opening until later of a morning. They also make a wonderful millefeuille (photo) and a tiny piece of deliciousness called “un gâteau Portugais”.
Châtaigne d’abricot and Millefeuille
A winery next to a cemetery! This one near Roquebrune. I’m sure the denizens buried or remembered here are sleeping deep and happy!
More photos below:
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