Crowds watch as Clos Montmartre's grapes are harvested during its annual October wine festival.
Crowds watch as Clos Montmartre's grapes are harvested during its annual October wine festival.
In America, vineyards are usually tucked in out-of-the-way rural areas, among country lanes. But in France, where great wine is a way of life, vineyards are everywhere even in the middle of the country's biggest city.
High on the hills of the neighborhood of Montmartre in Paris is Clos Montmartre, the city's last working vineyard.
Every year for a week in October, residents from the Paris neighborhood pour into the streets to celebrate their grape harvest, a festival known as the Fete des Vendanges. There is a costume parade, street performances, concerts and giant picnics all in honor of a small patch of land on a slope surrounded by houses with Mansard roofs.
Clos Montmartre, a leafy plot the size of a city block, has dark purple Gamay and pinot noir grapes that produce about a thousand bottles of red wine a year. Its gates are open for visitors in October, when head winemaker Francis Gourdin gives tours.
Clos Montmartre is about the size of a city block.
Clos Montmartre is about the size of a city block.
"Vineyards like this one, and also famous ones in places like Barcelona or Cape Town, are a sort of conservatory of a city's culture and history," Gourdin says as he leads a tour of visitors from as far as Norway and Mexico, as well as some native Parisians.
Gourdin says Clos Montmartre was born in the 1920s, when a group of well-known artists living here wanted to block a real estate project so they planted grapevines. Under French law, nothing can be built on a vineyard. The first harvest came in 1933.
Gourdin says Clos Montmartre is not a great wine; but it's respected for reasons that go beyond taste.
"I know many places in Paris," says Arthur Assadouriain, a Parisian taking Gourdin's tour, "but Montmartre is unique because of the life which was here in the past. I mean, the painters, the atmosphere. And this atmosphere that existed in the past, I can find it, for instance, in this vineyard. It's very special."
Vineyards covered much of this hilly part of Paris up until the 17th century. They diminished with industrialization and were completely wiped out in the late 1800s by the phylloxera epidemic. Today, Montmartre, like the rest of France, is replanted with American vine stock.
Montmartre's grapes are harvested and brought down to the basement of the town hall here in the 18th arrondissement, where they're pressed, fermented and bottled.
Town hall employee Olivia Bissiau explains that this is the only government office in Paris that makes wine. She says its half bottles, which are considered collectors' items, sell for $50 each; all the proceeds go to charity.
Children are always part of the Montmartre Fete des Vendanges. Every October, the streets of Montmartre become an open-air market, with gastronomic specialties from every corner of France.
And bien sur, everything on the menu marries well with a bottle of Montmartre rouge.
The Food Timeline: history notes--soup Food Timeline: history notes--soup ... Soup. Food historians tell us the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. The Food Timeline: cake history notes Food Timeline: cake history notes ... About cake. The history of cake dates back to ancient times. The first cakes were very different from what we eat today. Hanoi travel guide - Wikitravel Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and also its second largest city, is a fascinating blend of East and West, with Chinese influence from centuries of dominance, and ... The Fashion Maniac Food, Wine and Spirits Report: The Chocolate ... Written and Compiled by Phillip D. Johnson. ADULT BEVERAGE COMPANY DEBUTS ADULT STRAWBERRY MILK THE LATEST FLAVOR IN PREMIUM POUR-AND-SERVE COCKTAIL PORTFOLIO About.com: Do more. About.com is a valuable resource for content that helps people to solve the large and small needs of everyday life. Lyon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lyon, traditionally spelt Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France in the Rhne-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Ethymologically it ... Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science ... Read articles covering health, business and other topics for free on Essortment. Browse the educational articles online for free and learn recipes, how to garden ... A History of Alcoholism - Negative Space Jean-Charles Sournias book contains the immortal (in my pages, anyway) quote, It would seem that if alcohol is a vice, then virtue is unattractive, and if ... Food & Drink - Sydney - urbanwalkabout sydney your guide to fashion, design, food and lifestyle ... URBAN TALKABOUT. Sign up to our monthly newsletter for special offers, events sales and more around town. Blog Urban Homesteading From Institute for Urban Homesteading October 1 newsletter, by K. Ruby Blume. Permaculture Principle 7 : Design From Patterns to Details (Cant see the forest ...
No comments:
Post a Comment