Wines, Vines and Winemakers - History of the French Vineyard by Marcel Lachiver | Fayard

"Wines, Vineyards, and Winemakers - History of French Vineyards" by Marcel Lachiver is an essential reference for all wine enthusiasts and history buffs. Published by Fayard, this work delves deep into the evolution of French vineyards, from their origins to the present day.

How did our quality vineyards come to be? How have human, political, and physical conditions alternately helped or hindered illustrious or forgotten vintages? How did aristocratic wine become popular wine? This book traces the entire civilization of wine and its artisans, a long history in which human ingenuity, as well as the soil, slopes, climate, and grape varieties, slowly crafted the wines we know.

White or rosé, red at times, wine has long been considered both a food and a tonic, and since the Middle Ages, vineyards have been present throughout France. But these wines, which remain a luxury product, are fragile and rarely age well.

Gradually, viticulture produced thick and coarse wines, as the common folk wanted colorful wines, those that gave strength. The great wines only emerged towards the end of the 17th century, thanks to new vinification and conservation techniques. Sparkling Champagne, Bordeaux, and then Burgundy wines attracted the refined consumers of the Enlightenment, as well as the English and the Dutch.

The 19th century saw the triumph of the great vintages, with the 1855 classification formalizing the best vineyards and terroirs. In France in 1875, wine had conquered all tables. However, the scourges that struck the vineyards, notably phylloxera, and the imperatives of the modern world led to a complete restructuring of the vineyards – production increased, often at the expense of quality. The revolt of the winemakers in Languedoc, the major crisis of the 1930s, forced the authorities to intervene, and in 1935, the "controlled designation of origin" labels were created.

What will tomorrow bring? At a time when standardized beverages are multiplying, wine must remain the expression of a terroir, and the vine must continue to thrive where dozens of generations of winemakers, with their powers of observation, knowledge, and efforts, have made it a natural cradle.

Marcel Lachiver, born in 1934, a former schoolteacher, is a history professor at the University of Paris X-Nanterre. His State thesis, published in 1982, is dedicated to a historical study of the ancient vineyards of the Paris region. Honorary president of the Historical Society of Val d'Oise, he is currently a member of the Committee on Historical and Scientific Works, modern and contemporary history section.

Characteristics:

• Author: Marcel Lachiver
• Publisher: Fayard
• ISBN: 978-2-213-61255-3
• Language: French
• Pages: 718
• Format: Paperback
• Dimensions: 23.5 x 15.3 x 3.6 cm