Bergerac
« You are right, you can't love a vineyard if you don't know its history! And what a history! The Wines of Bergerac have more than 2000 years of it, including feasting with Gauls and Romans, reconciling the Kings of France and England and inspiring Cyrano. What experience!
But, let us begin at the beginning…
Did you know that the birth of the Bergerac vineyard took place at the same time as the birth of the Gallo Roman civilisation? The variety of the first plantations was called « Biturica », a name to remind us of the tribe that introduced it, the « Bituriges Vivisques ». The first documents witnessing the importance and location of the Bergerac vineyards date to the 12th century. They show that it was the abbeys and then the nobility who owned the first vineyards. Stretching along the right bank of the Dordogne, in a radius of 10 to 15 kilometres around Bergerac, then into the Montravel region, then across the river to stretch southwards.
Today, my treasured vineyard of Bergerac is 12 800 hectares and and stretches over 2 sides of the Dordogne River in a beautiful natural setting. This beautiful river, the "River Hope", carried the transport boats of the last century and connects us with prestigious neighbors: Sarlat and the black Perigord upstream and Libourne / Saint-Emilion downstream. »
MEMO (manuscript) :
Surface area : 12 800 hectares
Average annual production : 580 000 hl
1150 winegrowers and 150 wine merchants
5 wine colours for 13 controlled appellations of origin (appellations d’origine contrôlée or AOC*)
*AOC is short for appellations d’origine contrôlé: areas whose names are reserved for the typical wines made in the region. These names are protected and only wines made within the specified region and meeting the requirements can be called by these names.
