Imagine a time before motor vehicles when the pace of life was slow and the work was hard. In those days moving produce out of Languedoc was difficult and involved a long sea voyage around Spain and Portugal or along rough, rutted roads with a horse and cart. Wine was moved from wineries in barrels, on carts from villages to towns but to move it any further caused it to spoil with the jostling of the cart.In the 17th century the market for wine was where the population was growing, mainly in the north, in larger towns
such as Paris but also the lucrative export markets including Holland and the British Isles. In the parts of France that had navigable rivers or where towns were close to the Atlantic such as Bordeaux, it was reasonably easy to move wine north. For Languedoc the nearest Atlantic port was Bordeaux but due to a protectionist law known as the Bordeaux Privilege hardly any Languedoc wine left the French shore from Bordeaux. The only choice left to the folk of Languedoc was a long sea voyage around Spain and Portugal which could also spoil the wine.
“Te Counaissi” - it looks and sounds familiar, and yet..... If you happen to be in Languedoc between January and the
two weeks before Easter, and you're passing through the town of Limoux, it could well be an expression you hear. It's the tease or taunt spoken by the masked Pierrots taking part in the region's famous Carnival; and it's your cue to engage the Pierrot in some banter ! Te counnaissi is Occitan - it means, I know or I recognise you, and unlike many other pageants, in Limoux, those who go to watch, also have the chance to participate! Be warned though, they're fond of showering you in confetti!We all know the French love a party, and the Carnival of Limoux is a party of pretty extraordinary calibre. Thought to have its roots in the Middle Ages, not even the dark days of the French Revolution could halt proceedings, and it remains the longest running 'fete' in France.
Last week the Vin en Vacances team payed a visit to Clos du Gravillas, a boutique winery farming organically on limestone soils in the Minervois. They wanted to taste some of the 2015 wines to see how they are maturing and here is team member Marcel Van Baalens report:
On our vineyard tours we get to taste a lot of wines on a yearly basis! Don’t worry, the spit-bucket is our best friend. Tasting so many wines gives us a fairly good idea about the quality and the character of a vintage. But what makes a great vintage? Every vintage is different, and so it should be. To describe a vintage we have to look at all the four seasons. Vivaldi was right! But conditions may vary locally.We talked to John Bojanowski of Clos du Gravillas, a boutique winery in the tiny appellation of Saint-Jean-de-Minervois, famous for its sweet Muscat wine.
As yet another season comes to a close, and the winter nights invite us to cosy up in front of the fire, it's a wonderful chance to look back at the highlights of our year.Vin en Vacances is a special business; it's a 'people' business; it's what we do, so here are some memories of us, our little team, making lots of people happy.
This year I had the impression that the seasons had nudged forward by a month. Spring began during March and although I had the logs crackling on the fire in the evening, the days were often bright and perfect for hiking which I did a lot of. However, during winter we had seen a lot of rain, some of it torrential and the little river at the bottom of my garden was deep and fast flowing as spring arrived. The vines started to wake from their winter sleep in early April and the spring sunshine and warmer than normal temperatures soon had them sporting their tufts of greenery like ribbons twisted into little bows. Flowering began just as it should and the little green flowers soon turned to baby grapes and by the end of May we had what looked like bunches of ‘petit pois’ beginning their short journey of around 100 days to become sweet juicy grapes.
Hi there followers of Wendy's blog! Ever wondered what it would be like working for a Vineyard Tour Company? Read on for a little bit about my experience.
I'm Natalie (sans h), and it’s been 3 months since I started work as an intern for Vin en Vacances, 3 crazy months which have flown by, obviously caught on the back of that famous Languedoc wind. Now that it has reached September and the flurry of activity has started to gradually subside, I can look back on the last 3 months and say that I have absorbed the workload and lifestyle relatively well. I have still got 2 months left, so without speaking too soon, I think it is still safe to say that I’ve had a really fabulous and inspiring summer.
Peter and Deborah Core made a life-changing move when they quit their jobs in London and headed to New Zealand to learn how to become wine makers. Deborah was a lawyer and Peter an accountant so their new chosen path was one that took them in an entirely different direction and one they have no regrets taking.
What’s in a name? I run a few long weekend wine tours in Languedoc each year and a few years ago I was searching for a title for one of them. The tour in question is a 4 night, 3 day tour that explores 3 different parts of the region taking people to taste the wines and foods of the region. It also explores some of the historical events such as the Cathar Crusade and we visit some beautiful villages, markets and some historical buildings, lunching each day on local cuisine. It has taken me many years to seek out all these gems and it’s been a journey of a lifetime helped by some of the friendliest people I have ever come across. The pace of life is slow and people have the time to stand and chat or watch the world go by. One wine maker I visit always greets me with ‘welcome to paradise’ and I nearly called the tour that but I chose instead ‘The Spirit of Languedoc’.
Every year we run some long weekends of wine and food tasting tours in the Languedoc and last weekend we ran one called ‘The Gourmet Corbières Tour’. Eight people booked their places so the tour was full and I arranged for them to stay at a super B&B ran by a wonderful cook called Elisabeth in the village of Lagrasse. They arrived on Thursday night, all Brits and only 4 of them already knew each other but the group gelled beautifully and I think they will remain great friends.The tour began on Friday and was run by Carlos, one of the newest members to the Vin en Vacances team and a great asset. His talented language skills, his knowledge of the region, wines and history plus his ability to create a great rapport with everyone made the day a superb success. The group visited 2 fabulous vineyards in the Boutenac area of the Corbières and were welcomed in to the garden of a private house, owned by friends of Vin en Vacances, for a delicious lunch.
You haven’t tasted real tomatoes until you taste those ripened by the Mediterranean sun. It’s the same story with all the fruit and vegetables here in Languedoc-Roussillon, they have a taste you won't find in those greenhouse ripened cousins which actually bear very little taste resemblance to those bursting with sunshine flavour.Mediterranean food is loved the world over and often written about but I have not come across any Languedoc specific articles so I was delighted when I found Caroline Conran’s book Sud de France, the food & cooking of Languedoc (available to buy from our website). It is filled with fabulous recipes using the delicious produce of the region. I have used it many times and everything has turned out superbly well and tasted delicious. Chapter 8 is dedicated to vegetables, pulses and wild foods and this perfectly reflects the culture here, for foraging is something the Languedoc folk love to do. In this chapter is a recipe for La Truffade which is a rustic cheese and potato cake. No truffles are contained in this dish, it gets its name from the old Occitan word for potatoes, truffas. But truffles are very much part of the cuisine of the region and we celebrate them during the season of January and February with several festivals.