Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France

Maison des Vins de La Celle (Coteaux Varois)

La Celle Maison des Vins La Celle is a village in inner Provence , about 30 km from the mediterranean sea , near Brignoles and the Nationale 7 highway , in the Var departement . It is well known for its XII th century abbey . It is also where the Maison des Vins of the Coteaux Varois appellation is located , next to the high end "Hostellerie de l'Abbaye de La Celle" , a hotel with an excellent restaurant in a prestigious historic setting , and managed by the Chef Alain Ducasse . This Maison des Vins as often in France offers a large choice of wines to be tasted free of charge , and with the opportunity to buy the bottles there at the producer's price . Visiting the region and looking for the Coteaux Varois wines , this is where to go first , even if you can deepen your knowledge with visiting the Domaines themselves afterwards . The list of the Domaines wines you can taste there, changes regularly , so if you return 1 or 2 weeks later , you will be offered different wines to taste . When we dropped by , 8 domaines could be tasted , located in Barjols and Brignoles as the selection changes on a village alphabetical order . From each of these 8 domaines , you were offered to taste among their rosé , red , and occasionally white wines . The place is very elegant , with high volumes , stone floor . Wine tasting bar with bottles displayed on one side , and adjacent rooms used to expose paintings . The young woman sommelier who serves us knows about the different wines , and also about the domaines and their particularities . The Maison des Vins also has a grape varieties conservatory : A vineyard where the grape varieties of the region are grown and exposed to the public . A music Festival is held each year on the abbey grounds , with classical music ensembles performing in july and august in the peaceful historic setting of the gardens and the vineyard conservatory .

Gallo-Roman Wine (Mas des Tourelles)

The Mas des Tourelles is a domaine located near Nimes and Beaucaire (map : Mas des Tourelles is indicated under "Beaucaire") , south of France in the Cotes
du Rhone- Costieres de Nimes appellation .They produce for years Costieres de Nimes wines and have been at the origin of an exciting new experience : The production of gallo-roman wines like the ones that were made more than 2000 years ago . Yes : They make and sell several of the very wines that were known in the Roman Empire , and that were so different from our "modern" wines .
It all began when archeological excavations revealed a gallo-roman villa and its surrounding buildings under existing vineyards of the domaine . Unearthed were several major structures , including what was a pottery production facility where "gallic 4" amphoras were produced . [See on the pictures left and lower , the site in the middle of the vineyard]
This potential archeological site was spotted as soon as 1909 but seriously searched with the help of the french research body CNRS , first in 1979-1980 . That was when the gallo-roman villa was located .;A 3-hectare built site is thought to have been busy and alive between the 1st to the 3rd century A.D.
In 1983 , serious digging under the vineyard unearthed the bases of the buildings and the amphora production facility . Young archeologists still patiently comb the place today .
Visitors to the Mas des Tourelles can also visit the open archeological site nearby and check the progress of the excavations under the scorching sun and with the deafening chorus of cicadas in the background .

So a special relationship grew between the CNRS archeologists and the Mas des Tourelles owners , Diane and Herve Durand , who found a new passion for these antique wines that were made in the region and the roman empire in general .
They looked for information ,beginning in 1991, mostly from the ancient texts of Pline , Collumelle and other roman writers . The blurred image of roman wines gradually took some sharper substance as many details about the wine production process and the different way to make them could be found in a multitude of roman and greek texts .
And this led to the construction in 1994 of the "cave archeologique" (archeological cellar) where the Mas des Tourelles produces today , with the only tools and techniques used 2000 years ago , several wines from the gallo-roman era .

The harvest is being conducted every year according to the Roman era ways, as you can see on this page, and even the way the workers were dressed has been taken into account.