The history of the vineyards of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez

….. 1 – The Phocaeans : VINE ARRIVES IN FRANCE

The cultivation of vines in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez dates back to time immemorial. The Ligurians, the first inhabitants of the peninsula, may have already produced a kind of wine from wild vines but most probably it was a mix with other wild fruits. Viticulture in France dates back to antiquity, introduced by the Greeks (the Phocaeans to be precise) around the 6th century. BC (2,600 years ago), when they founded the colony of Massalia, which became.Massilia in Roman times (hence the name “Phocaean city” given to. Marseille) and brought us the first cultivated vines for wine production. the history of vineyards

Picture Credit : Musée d’Histoire de Marseille

….. 2 – The Romans : CULTURE OF THE VINEYARDS

Subsequently, the Romans played a crucial role in the development of local viticulture. They established large estates and intensified vine cultivation, making the wine produced in the region an important trade item. The wines were generally sweet, thick and full-bodied, with a strong alcoholic flavour, but always watered down.

It was a lucrative trade, conducted throughout the. Roman Empire around the Mediterranean by boat and inland. The Gauls’ taste for wine was such that “you could exchange an amphora of good wine for a slave”.

Fortunately, these practices are no longer used today !

In La Croix Valmer, next to the. D-Day beach, where so many visitors come to bask every summer, we have the exceptional opportunity to see one of the only. Roman villas on the Mediterranean coast : the Villa Pardigon (see above) that is still visible and accessible to the public. the history of vineyards

The villa’s estate covered 60 hectares of land, mainly cultivated with cereals and vines, and was managed by around a dozen workers. Cellar consisted of 100 dolia (large jars of 1500 to 1800 litres) buried up to the neck to protect the wine from the heat. The cellars could hold 1,700 hectolitres. Annual production was around 850 to 900 hectolitres per hectare (today in the Côtes de. Provence AOP, the maximum authorised yield is 55 hectolitres per hectare).

….. 3 – The Middle Ages and modern times : THE DEVELOPMENT of the vineyards

After the barbarian invasions, winegrowing went through periods of decline and rebirth. In the. Middle Ages, monks were often the guardians of this wine-growing tradition, particularly here at the Domaine de la. Verne in the Massif des Maures at Collobrières. The monks acquired over 3,000 hectares of land for farming (at the time, they owned the estates now known as Domaine de Sainte Marie and Domaine Siouvette), livestock rearing and salt works. However, the Carthusian monastery suffered several fires in the 13th and 14th centuries, as well as destruction during the. French Revolution, which limited wine production.

From the 17th century onwards, we find more concrete evidence of the presence of vines in the. Tropezian landscape. The land registers of the time mention vines planted ‘en filagnes’, i.e. planted between rows of wheat, fruit or vegetables – what is known today as mixed farming.

….. 4 – The golden age of the 19th century and the post-war revival :

This was a crucial time for French viticulture. It was at this time that the Tibouren grape variety, brought to Saint-Tropez from Cyprus by sailors at the end of the 18th century, spread throughout the region and France. At that time, vines covered almost the entire territory of Saint-Tropez, dotted with small farm buildings known as “bastides”, but phylloxera (a small parasitic insect that starves vines) arrived in 1880 and destroyed all planted vineyards.

After suffering during the war years, the region’s vineyards underwent a major renewal in 1945. Unfortunately, the massive adoption of high-yielding grape varieties initially led to the production of low-quality wines.

Picture Credit “Hier dans le Golfe de Grimaud”

….. 5 – The modern era, quality and recognition of the cote de provence wines

In 1954, the small vineyard owners joined forces to create a wine cooperative, enabling them to pool their investments and control technical developments in cultivation, vinification and marketing.

1977 marked a new stage with the recognition of the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) label for Côtes de. Provence, further encouraging the marketing of the region’s wines.

Vinegrowing today,

Today, the Gulf of Saint-Tropez is renowned for the quality of its wines, particularly its rosés. The region’s vineyards produce wines that reflect the beauty and uniqueness of their terroir, between sea and mountains. The oldest dates back to 1805 and is run by the 8th generation, Sébastien and. Guillaume Craveris Brun: Domaine de la Tourraque in Ramatuelle.

Cave Coopérative de Saint-Tropez, renamed Torpez, continues to play an important role in preserving the local wine heritage. In particular, it has set up an innovative programme to safeguard the micro plots of vines nestling in the grounds of. Saint-Tropez’s luxury villas.

Photo credit : Big Magazine

The history of winegrowing in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez is a living testimony to the resilience and adaptability of local winemakers, who have preserved and developed their know-how over the centuries to produce wines that are recognised and appreciated the world over.