Le Clos-Montmartre is a vineyard planted on the north side of the Montmartre butte (the 18th arrondissement, or district, of Paris). It is between Au Lapin Agile cabaret and the Montmartre Museum, the artist Auguste Renoir's former home.
Vineyards were recorded as being present in Montmartre from 944. In the 12th century vines were planted by the women of the Montmartre Abbey. When the Abbey subsequently needed money the parcels of vines were sold. In the 16th century Montmartre was still outside of Paris, the vines stretched as far as the eye could see and its inhabitants were mostly vineyard workers. In the 17th century the production had dwindled and the wine was not highly regarded, having gained a reputation as a diuretic. Only the locals drank the stuff.
At the beginning of the 17th century there was a guinguette, an open air bar and dance venue, on the site of the current Montmartre vineyard. By the 18th century the Montmartre hillside was once again covered with vines, because Montmartre was outside the Paris tax collection boundaries. This made the area a favourite for taverns and cabarets. Once Montmartre was annexed by Paris in the 1860s though, the vines made way for houses. The site of the current vineyard was a house and garden, belonging to the writer and performer Aristide Bruant, who would also own the neighbouring Au Lapin Agile cabaret in the early years of the 20th century.
When Aristide Bruant died in 1925 the City of Paris bought the land, with the intention of building four houses on it. But the locals objected strongly and the local authority caved in and declared the land protected from being built on. The last vines in Montmartre had gone in 1928 but five years later Montmartre planted 2000 pinot noir and gamay on the 2 hectare site that would become the Clos-Montmartre. In 1933 another 1.5 hectares was planted to vines and more than 25 old varieties brought in. Nowadays they are in the process of being replaced by varieties from Switzerland.
The grapes are harvested very late, in mid-October, and up until recently the wine itself continued to have a less than stellar reputation. But that is changing. These days, since 2016, there is a professional winemaker and vineyard manager, and the wine is considered excellent. The public is not allowed into the vineyard, except during the autumn garden and harvest festival, when local community groups and wine clubs are invited to pick the grapes and there are guided visits. There is no particular fanfare about the grape harvest, and they are pressed in the cellars of the Montmartre town hall. Once the wine is ready it is sold by auction, with the proceeds going towards social projects in Montmartre.
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1 comment:
Very interesting retrospective!
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