In the small village of Montagne, located in the middle of as-far-as-the-eye-can-see vineyards in southwestern France, stand two well-preserved moulins (windmills) that are the pride-and-joy of a local winery, Chateau Saint Jacques Calon, the producer of a fine Bordeaux region Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend, Cuvée des Moulins.
Back in the mid 1800s, all across l’Hexagone vintners were under attack by a tiny aphid invader from North America that systematically brought the entire French wine industry to its knees, region by region, vineyard by vineyard. In anticipation of the imminent devastation, chateaus rushed to construct windmills to serve as the workhorse for their backup plan: burn down the vineyards, temporarily grow and harvest wheat and mill it into flour until the earth below was renewed and newly planted vines could take root and flourish.
As daytime exhales its final, long deep breath signaling nighttime’s arrival, there’s really no better place to be than alongside the rose-colored windmills of Chateau Saint Jacques Calon to watch the setting sun bid bonsoir in the vineyards.
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I love that the sunset is the color of wine…
Rose’. 🙂
WOWEE!!!! I LOVE these photos! Fabulous! Pawesome! Wow wow wow! =^.^=
Thanks, Bailey. Right back atcha!
Another good one…
Thanks for the thumbs-up, Ed.
Beautiful photos and love the history lesson.
Thanks Tux. Glad you enjoyed the snaps and the history behind them.
Very interesting story, Tom. I like it when regions/people are proactive and resilient when things like this happen. Beautiful photos also. 😉
Glad you enjoyed the historical footnote behind those moulins. Oh, and the photos. 🙂
Hi there,
I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award: http://ninstravelog.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/versatile-blogger-award/ because I are really enjoying your blog especially your photographs and recipes. Enjoy!
Nin.
Nin — Thanks for the offer, but I recently switched my blog to “non awards” status and removed all the “merit badges” that I had been bestowed. Thanks just the same. Still friends? TPT
No worries, and I agree with you, its better to focus more on blogging than…. 🙂
Beautiful sky Tom, love the new header too.
Thanks, Tina. Btw, the header is a shot of Procida, an island off the coast of Naples.
Beautiful, and what a sky!! Tchin tchin.
ae.i — Thanks for the positive feedback. Glad you enjoyed the sky and the w’mills.
More! Please continue sharing your beautiful photographs!
Rosanna — I will. 🙂