The productive establishment of vines in Occitania dates back to Antiquity. The study of the ancient vineyard confirms that the region has always been a great land of wine.
La Narbonnaise, cradle of the vine
During the Gallo-Roman period, a large part of the Occitanie region was known as Narbonensis . Stretching from Nîmes to Toulouse, it encompassed the present-day Languedoc and Roussillon regions, as well as part of southwestern France. Wine production was already thriving there, and archaeological research proves that this province of Gaul is a true cradle of viticulture and winemaking. Numerous ancient villas have been unearthed and studied in the departments of Gard, Hérault, and Pyrénées-Orientales. Excavations of these wine estates have highlighted the importance of wine production from the Roman conquest through the Middle Ages. The Béziers region was particularly renowned and already mentioned in the writings of Pliny the Elder. The Aminée grape variety was reputed to contribute to the quality of these wines, while the production of flat-bottomed Gallic amphorae ensured their distribution throughout the Roman Empire. Workshops producing wine amphorae were numerous in Narbonne, such as the one at Clos de Raynaud located in the present-day commune of Sallèles-d'Aude.
The wine villas and their infrastructures
Excavations carried out throughout the Languedoc and Roussillon regions as part of conservation campaigns have unearthed the winemaking infrastructure of Roman villas . Analysis of the archaeological remains reveals the interconnectedness of wine presses, collection vats, winemaking and storage cellars, and rooms dedicated to the production of defrutum (wine ). On the unearthed plans of the cella vinaria , these ancient cellars, the number of storage locations provides a valuable indicator of the volume of wine produced by the ancient vineyards. The villa discovered at Nissan-Lez-Ensérune exemplifies the connections between the production units. Built along the slope, the winery houses the presses on the highest levels. The pressed juices then flowed by gravity into a vat holding several tens of hectoliters, where they were collected. The storage area extended from the building, occupying its lower section. Counting the locations reserved for dolia allows us to measure the production volume of each of the ancient estates.
Modern wine estates
At the Villa de Prés-Bas in Loupian, the facilities are quite elaborate. The wine cellar is estimated at 315 m², divided into two naves separated along the central axis by a row of pillars. It contains the locations of 90 dolia, which were likely filled using a pipe connected to the vat room by a pump. Production at this site is estimated at 1500 hectoliters. From these various archaeological findings, it is possible to get an idea of the size of the vineyards associated with these Roman villas. These probably extended over several dozen hectares and occupied average areas quite similar to those of today's vineyards. The estimated yields, between 30 and 60 hectoliters per hectare, are also close to the same levels as today. One of the largest estates in the Narbonne region, the Villa de Vareilles , was located in Paulhan Adissan, within the current Languedoc Pézenas and Clairette du Languedoc appellation areas. Equipped with four wine cellars, the discovery of at least 500 large dolia suggests a wine production of approximately 6000 to 7500 hectoliters from a vineyard of at least 120 hectares. This productivity, compared to the number of workshops producing Gallic amphorae, demonstrates that the region was already a major center for wine production and export.
Hello,
The villa of Vareilles is not located in the Grès de Montpellier appellation but in that of Clairette du Languedoc.
Sincerely,