The wine tourism walk in Pic Saint-Loup: to enjoy the landscape as much as the wine!

Benoît Gaidan, l’oeno-guide fait déguster quatre vins et en explique toutes les nuances. Midi Libre – E. L.

L’Office de tourisme du Grand Pic Saint-Loup est très engagé dans l’oenotourisme. Plusieurs balades sont proposées durant l’été et au-delà.

6pm and not a breath of air… The walk imagined by the team at the Grand Pic Saint-Loup Tourist Office is supposed to take place in the cool. A failure for this Tuesday evening, not yet colored with the orange of the weather alert, but already very warm. Ten visitors signed up and paid 20 euros for a wine tourism walk on the heights of the Hortus. On the menu, explanations about the terroir and a tasting session: everyone is invited to slip a well-stocked lunch box and a stemmed glass protected with bubble wrap into their backpack.

Jocya Gaillard, from the Grand Pic Saint-Loup Tourist Office leads the group. Midi Libre – E. L.

Jocya Gaillard leads the group on a flat outing starting from the Mas Neuf car park in the town of Claret. "The vine has not always been dominant here, agriculture was very diversified. The inhabitants practiced pastoralism, cereal farming, pig farming, sericulture…", explains the young woman. Not to mention all the small trades accompanying the work of the gentlemen glassmakers".

The old farmhouse, owned by the Hérault Department, can be seen after a twenty-minute walk, offering a poor appearance. There are no particular plans from the community for this building, but one can well imagine the lines of credit required before even thinking about its rehabilitation. This is the moment that Benoît Gaidan chooses to clear the group's knowledge of wine. Benoît is the other guide, he set up his company Vigno Vins in the Gard, which offers half-day tours of estates.

The horizon at their feet, the nectars of Pic Saint-Loup are tasted with happiness. Midi Libre – E. L.

“Here the wine may be AOP Pic Saint-Loup, Languedoc, Grès de Montpellier, Terrasses du Larzac, or IGP Pays d’Oc or Saint-Guilhem…" The Dutch couple is totally lost. Especially since the word "terroir" as the French understand it is untranslatable. "A foreigner will talk about grape varieties. We, in the terroir, include three elements, the soil, the climate, and the topography, in other words, the altitude, the inclination of the slopes, …", continues Benoît Gaidan. Around the Hortus, where the vineyard is sometimes “engrazed” (the scents of thyme and rosemary can be found in the wine), the Cévennes foothills play their influence, unlike the maritime entrances which will act elsewhere. It sometimes rains on the Pic and not on the plain.

No maritime inputs here: the vines are influenced by the Cévennes foothills on the climate. Midi Libre – E. L.

The path begins to wind along the edge of quite dizzying precipices. In the distance, paragliders take over the currents while below the village of Lauret already seems asleep. Behind the Pech des Mourgues, which is also the subject of an Office walk, we can see the conurbation of Nîmes. Five small white lines even further away ? The wind turbines of Beaucaire. But it is at the foot of a promontory with a compass rose that we will taste four wines. A rosé Cellier du Pic, from Assas, a white labeled Bélier bleu from Domaine de Saint-Clément and two reds, one from Clos des Augustins, from Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers and a Vineyard of the three castles (merger of cooperative cellars from Notre-Dame-de-Londres, Valflaunès and Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers). Benoît the oeno-guide unfolds his vocabulary, the tannins are supple, the note is floral, the liveliness on the finish…hellip; We approve with complete confidence under the pinkish evening sky. The horizon stretches as far as the eye can see. It’s good and it’s beautiful!

Vineyards and discoveries

Le Grand Pic Saint-Loup, labeled Vineyards and Discoveries, has concocted several Wine and Flavors walks. The outing from Mas Neuf de Claret will be offered again on August 20, at 5:30 p.m. Another initiative of  walks "wines and astro" with an outing and a commented observation of the stars: next meeting on August 13, around Assas, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. (again on October 19 in Cazevieille). 

Many estates also offer their own activities and invitations to discover their terroir and know-how. 

Information: 04 48 20 05 28. grandpicsaintloup-tourisme.fr  I subscribe to read more