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History Fact and fiction

winemaking terroir for the Romans, rather than the sandy and gravelly river

sediment on the left bank of the Garonne to the north and west of the city where

the Romans probably grew their vines, or the scree to the south which Bordeaux

locals planted from the 16th century. And least of all on the gravel hilltops of

the Médoc, which only became accessible all year round once Dutch engineers

had drained the surrounding marshes using a sophisticated system of channels

and sluices. But even so, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, whose winemaking his-

tory apparently has Roman roots (the name is a reference to fruit cultivation,

with ‘poma' meaning apple but also fruit in general, so why not grapes?), stood

at the gates of the city of Libourne, which failed to rival Bordeaux despite its

small port. Rural Libourne thus produced wine primarily for personal use until

the mid-18th century.

In fact, the ditches and furrows which the Romans supposedly carved out of

the limestone rock to facilitate the rooting of their vines (as mentioned in nu-

merous scholarly books) have been shown by recent research to date from the

18th century. Furthermore, scholars have long been arguing about the location

of the remains of the grandiose Villa Lucaniacus belonging to Roman statesman

and poet Ausonius. But they are hardly likely to be slumbering in Saint-Emilion

and are thus of no use as proof of the wonderful wines which the town is sup-

posed to have already been producing at the time.

Arnaud II. de Pontac