One of the things I wanted to do in France is to stay in a small bed and breakfast in a wine region. We were not close to Bordeaux and we had to travel to Barcelona from Lyon so we decided to spend some time in south of France. We stayed in Roquefort-des-Corbières, France, which is located in Languedoc-Roussillon region.
The Languedoc-Roussillon region is dominated by 740,300 acres of vineyards, three times the combined area of the vineyards in Bordeaux and the region has been an important winemaking centre for several centuries. Grapevines are said to have existed in the South of France since the Pliocene period - before the existence of Homo sapiens. The Mediterranean climate and plentiful land with soil ranging from rocky sand to thick clay was very suitable for the production of wine, and it is estimated that one in ten bottles of the world's wine was produced in this region during the 20th century. [1]
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| Bed and breakfast we stayed |
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| enjoying wine and mussels |
We visited Terra Vinea winery. Originally an old mine (the stone of which was used to make plaster) is currently used to store the local Rocbére wine.
The tour started in the village of Portel to show the visitors the life in Mediterranean environment.
The mine was closed in 1992 and converted into wine maturing cellars in 1994. The mine is located 80 meters underground.
It is here where 600 wine growers from the area choose to age the wine because the conditions are perfect: 16C of constant temperature and 80% of humidity. Wine stays here for 6-12 months.
The tour continues to Gallo-Roman house to show the life of Romans 2000 years ago. Narbonne closeby was the second biggest port in Mediterranean after Rome and was a crossing point for the legions going to Spain.
Next exhibition shows different wine tools that were used before.
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