History Flashcards
1
Q
History
Languedoc (11)
Roussillon (3)
A
Languedoc
- 125BC: 1st vineyards planted in Narbo (now Narbonne), which produces Corbieres, Minervois & Coteaux du Languedoc
- Middle ages: University of Montpellier established by monks. Arnaldus de Villanova, scholar interested in wine’s medical properties, was very influential in the development of wine in the area.
- 17th: construction of canal du Midi linking region to Atlantic but Bdx protectionism -> limited benefit until 18th.
- Late 17th: development of Picardan –sweet white wine- and eaux de vie shipped to the NL/UK
- 19th: connection to Lyon & Bordeaux -> production x4 btw 1850-69
- Late 19th: first region to recover from Phylloxera thanks to adoption of grafting & hybrids experimentations.
- Languedoc produced 44% of all French wines.
- Early 20th: Languedoc required blending with more robust wine from colonies e.g. Algeria.
- From 1930s: organisation in cooperatives but fall in demand of VdT + VdP slow pick up put pressure on growers
- 1970s: VdP legislation -> more experimentation by new trained winemakers + rise in international varieties
- 2000s: vine pull schemes targeted the area and a lot of poorer varieties were taken out.
Roussillon
- 7th BC: Greeks introduced viticulture and the Romans then developed it; mainly Muscat that became local specialty
- From 14th: sweet wines are the local acclaimed specialty with Rivesaltes
- 13th-17th: region ruled from Majorca and then from Aragón -> strong Spanish/Catalan influence
