Welcome to Februarys' news roundup from the team at Vin en Vacances. We are getting excited as the new season is about to start and we have some wonderful new wine & food tours and some great wine holidays for you. Read on and I hope we will tempt you to pay the Languedoc a visit this year.
Happy Birthday Canal du Midi..!
2016 is the 350th anniversary of commencement of work to build the Canal du Midi for it was in 1666 that the first spade sank into the midi soil. There will be many ways to celebrate this important year and to remember the people who worked so hard to create this incredible waterway. Read Wendy's blog and find out more...
New Tours
Canal du Midi Wine Tours - Our range of tours is growing and this year as well as our very popular Canal du Midi Wine tour we have added the Canal du Midi Epicurean Wine tour. Its a food & wine extravaganza and includes a fabulous wine
tasting cruise.
Lagrasse Food & History Walking Tour - For foodies who also like a bit of history we have a new 3 hour walking tour around the village of Lagrasse which runs every Saturday. After a foodie stroll around the market stalls in the medieval covered market you will enjoy a history stroll around the village and learn some of the fascinating facts about one of 'Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'. Find out more...
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.