Innovative Yet Tradtional Wines from the South of France

01 Aug 2019

The Forgotten Grapes of Gascony

In the Southern French vineyards of Saint-Mont, there is a group of winemakers who are committed to preserving the heritage of the region through cultivating the grapes of their forefathers. They produce high quality wines using the same techniques and practices which sufficed for centuries before the introduction of modern technology. Some of these techniques include bottle aging wines by burying them in the cool earth of the vineyard rather than building extensive cellars, and burying bulls horns full of dung among the vines in order to fertalise the soils.

Colombard

Colombard is another variety which despite having a long hayday in the Charantais region of France, production had stalled almost to a halt. The culmination of this was when in the 1970s almost half of all plantings were pulled up to make way for other, more internationally marketable varieties. Once again concerted efforts from a small group of winemakers have brought this variety back to life, and fresh zesty Colombard is being produced once again.