Wines and vineyards of Paris

Wines and vineyards of Montmartre 1/2

The first documents mentioning the vineyards at Montmartre date from the end of the 10th century.
But it was with Queen Adélaïde (wife of the fat Louis VI) that the wine of Montmartre was to experience a rapid expansion when she decided in 1133 to install at Montmartre a feminine monastery. Because the ladies of the Montmartre abbey would allow their land to be farmed on one condition; the planting of vines on the land. One way or another for the priestesses to restock their cash chest with the rent from the press situated next to their building.
Thus, the wine of “Clos de l’Abbaye” (pinot noir) had a very good reputation.

Until the 17th and 18th centuries, the mound of Montmartre was like a green hill with numerous windmills, three quarters planted with vines. The wine of Montmartre is known for its diuretic qualities. If the Montmartre wine also had the reputation to “make you jump like a goat”, it’s because all these vineyards lead the openings of the inns and cabarets, because the wine was placed under a tax system in order to be allowed into Paris. Therefore, on Sundays Parisiens left Paris and climbed the slopes of the Butte in the middle of the vines. One goes to Montmartre to drink and have fun in the barn dances and numerous parties that existed then.

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