Did you know there are vineyards in various places in Paris? I guess they can be called urban vineyards? (Yes, we at Madeleine’s have been thinking about vineyards as we’ve recently spent some time on an island vineyard in Italy, even if course we have also been thinking about Paris, the Olympics taking place right now, the giant glowing balloon, the parade of 80-something boats on the Seine, and the stunning display of three-coloured smoke over Pont d’Austerlitz on its opening day).
There are 10 of these vineyards dotting the French capital, small, urban plots owned by the City of Paris and mostly nestled in the hills of Montmartre, or tucked away by the banks of the Seine and hidden in some of the city’s most celebrated parks. Not the city’s original vines, which were planted in the early 17th century when Paris was a wine-making hub, these small, secluded vineyards were reintroduced across the city in recent decades as an homage to Paris’s past; in fact, winemaking in Paris is an ancient tradition dating at least to the Romans, who once built a temple to Bacchus, the god of wine and agriculture, in what is now Montmartre.
The most well-known of these urban vineyards (and no longer really a secret of Paris) is the Clos de Montmartre (Montmartre vineyard), within walking distance of the Sacré Cœur and has been in operation since the 12th century when nuns and monks were in charge of making wine. Every year – early October, more precisely – the Montmartre vineyard produces a small amount of wine that is auctioned off for charity; in fact, see if you can make your way to the Fête des Vendanges! (The gates to the vineyard are located at 18 rue des Saules, a 4 minutes’ walk from Sacré Cœur).
Unlike Bordeaux, Bourgogne and other French typical vineyards that focus on regional grapes only, the Vignes du Clos Montmartre includes a large variety of grapes in the same small vineyard, and so all of the Clos Montmartre wines are hybrids, or blends. About 1,000 to 1,500 bottles a year are produced from the harsh growing conditions of a small plot of land in the middle of a major city. (Reportedly, other things are grown in the vineyard too, kiwis, olives and strawberries!)
There are a few other Parisian vineyards that are still well-kept secrets. One of these is in Belleville quarter in the north-east part of the city, often seen as a lively and eclectic neighbourhood, sandwiched between 4 arrondissements and with a mix of artists, immigrants and revolutionary history (the words liberty, equality and fraternity are still oft-used in everyday conversations, get museums built around them, and inspire real-life acts of collective resistance in France). In fact, the quarter has had a long history though the once prolific vines of Belleville have been reduced to a small plot in the Parc de Belleville, while the rest of the history has evolved into and can now be seen in the neighbourhood’s dynamic natural wines and innovative cuisine scene, with some of the city’s best winebars. Another factoid on its revolutionary history: Belleville was where the last barricades fell during the workers’ uprising of the Paris Commune in 1871, and the neighbourhood is still home to the headquarters of the Parti Communiste in France, as well as two of the country’s largest trade unions.
There is Clos de Bercy too, in the 12e, in the south-eastern parts of the city, which produce around 250 bottles a year. Parc de Bercy not only has a vineyard, but old wine houses and is well worth a visit too with its three themed gardens (its history stretches back thousands of years, with traces of human settlement dating back to the Neolithic period, and some discovered and unearthed remains of a village dating back to around 4500 BC in the musée Carnavalet in the 3e).
One can still find traces of the wine trade around today’s park – the Bercy district was at one point in the 19th century the largest wine market in the world – including a network of cobbled streets named after various wines such as rue de Macôn, rue des Sauternes and the metro station cour Saint Emilion (on the site of the old Bercy station which was where wine from southern France arrived in Paris), the Chai de Bercy which is an authentic wine cellar that has been beautifully restored and transformed into a venue for temporary exhibitions, as well as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (the national library) accessed via the passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir, the footbridge with a rather cool “Children of the world” series of 21 sculptures (that reminds us of the Birrarung Marr park next to Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia). It is also close to the canal saint-martin as well as the gare de Lyon (the most eastern one of the four main train stations in Paris, from where direct trains to cities like Geneva depart).
And then there’s Clos du buttes Bergeyre, hidden in a tiny district located next to city’s parc buttes-Chaumont, as well as the only privately owned vineyard in the city, La Vigne de Paris-Bagatelle, a chic hotel particulier built in 1926 located on the border of the bois de Boulogne, on the west side of the city, that offers wine tastings, guided tours and oenology courses by appointment.
Most of the Parisian vineyards only open their doors to visitors at certain times of the year: in the first week of October, during the Fête de la Vigne et du Raisin, visitors can go on wine tasting and guided tours of the vineyards; one can also look out for the festival in late September that celebrates urban gardens, the Fête des Jardins, during which some vineyards also open their doors.
P.S. Some of our favourite Belleville discoveries and delights include: the wine shop Cave de Belleville on rue Belleville (#51), with its carefully curated selection of wines from small independent vineyards, mostly from France, and a number of limited-edition bottles, the club-performance-venue-and-jazz-lunch-all-in-one-with-rooftop-views Bellevilloise on rue Boyer (#19), the tofu-of-all-kinds, curiosity-worthy though unimaginably-named Chinese eatery Best Tofu, the equally unimaginably-named Saigon Sandwich with a killer Banh Mi, the terrace of Aux folies for people-watching and imbibing the atmosphere of Edith Piaf et al (who was born in the 20th arrondissement part of Belleville and who sang next door), the bread and pastries at Grégory Desfoux (112 rue de Belleville, 20e) and La Baie des Anges (11 boulevard de la Villette, 10e), the outdoor tables at the cozily-named Café chéri(e) on the boulevard de la Villette (#44), and the sticky Moroccan pastries piled high on silver trays at the equally cozily-named Les doigts de fée on rue des Pyrénées (#356) (other unusual places to have Moroccan pastries and mint tea include this in the 5e, though there are no fairy fingers there).
P.P.S. Almost impossible to imagine, but the left-bank area of saint-germaine-des-prés, today a chic shopping district in the heart of the 6th arrondissement was actually home to a large vineyard site that was originally established for the church that had existed since the 6th century.
