Standing among Eric Fitan’s centenarian vines near Marciac deep in Gascony, it was easy to become enthused about ampelography. Fitan, the president of the St-Mont appellation, and ampelographer Olivier Yobrégat regaled us with vignettes about the local varieties: how Pinenc (aka Negrette, Fer Servadou) is a relative of the Cabernet family of grapes and how the medieval network of abbeys along the Camino pilgrimage route spread the grapes...
Ungrafted vines and storied wines
Friday 12 September 2025
• 5 min read
An ampelography conference at Plaimont in south-west France leads to delicious discoveries. Above, Eric Fitan pointing out one of the two Tardif vines in Pédebernade, from which the variety has been resurrected.
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