A driving force in the viticultural landscape of South-West France that fosters co-operation without sacrificing local identity. Above, an early-morning view from the Monastère de St-Mont.
Old vines, old varieties
The Pédebernarde vineyard in South-West France is the only vineyard in France registered as a historic monument. Its 12 rows of ancient, twisted, ungrafted vines survived phylloxera thanks to the sandy soils and the determination of the vineyard owners, the Pédebernarde family, who still live in the house next to the vineyard. The plot is thought to have been planted around 1830 but the vines are said to be at least...