CORBIERES' HISTORY

The Corbières, such a rich history

JinGarrigue Wine Hong Kong invites you to discover Corbières' history step by step.
The aromas of the Corbières' terroir have their temperament.
They transmit more than a taste, a flavour: They bequeath a story.
Let's bet that you will soon be fascinated by the heritage of this wild,
pure and still authentic county!

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Lézignan, capital of Corbières

Capital of the Corbières, Lézignan Corbières is the indispensable wine ambassador of the region. MAP
The town is home to Le Chai des Vignerons, which is the first cooperative winery to be created in the Aude (11) county, in 1909 (the second in France), after the 1907 winemakers’ rebellion.
The Lézignan Corbières church, Saint Félix de Gérone, has been registered historic monument in 1951.
At the heart of the city, the edifice has a Southern Gothic style with a unique nave. The structure was built with an apse and a chorus with ogival arches in semicircle and a four transverse arches nave. Don’t forget to admire the tower-donjon bell! Its impressive building reminds us that the Saint Félix church was formerly part of the city fortifications.

Lézignan Corbières is also very famous for its rugby “à XIII” team (rugby team with 13 players). Its rugby club,
“Le FC Lézignan” (called the Feuceuleu), is in National First League.

The Lézignan Corbières station was put into service in 1857 by the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi, one of the French eldest railroad companies (created in 1852 by the Pereire brothers). Nowadays, the station gives access to regional trains (TER Occitanie).

Remember, La Capounado!

La Capounado is not only an exquisite wine... It is a statue displayed at the Lézignan Corbières public garden. It represents a man getting ready to paint the face of a lady with a grape during harvest time.

The first “Capounado” to adorn the park was a splendid piece of art by Paul Ducuing. Unfortunately, it has been taken by the German during the second World War. Then, it was said that the statue was melted down in order to make munitions. According to another version of the story, the German didn’t have enough time to melt it and Metz (Moselle county, France) would have kept it.

However, since 2013, another “Capounado” cheers the Lézignan public garden, crafted by the sculptor Arthur Saura. Whatever happens, the Capounado will never leave the town.

Sainte Suzanne cross mystery

The Sainte Suzanne cross was documented from 1538 and settled on the former Escales path (“chemin d’Escales”), near Saint-Jaumes. (Lézignan Corbières countryside) According to the texts, before that, an oratory was raised there. During the XVI century, the rural chapel disappeared and the oratory was demolished. Then, instead, a cross was erected.
The people of Lézignan Corbières have been praying the cross regularly since 1924, the year of an important drought.

The rebellion of 1907
Against the fraud!

Key dates of the Languedoc winemaker's rebellion:

18th century:
Mass wine growing is developing rapidly, supported by:

The « Port de Sète » (Sète Harbour) building.
The « Canal du Midi » (waterway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, watershed “ligne de partage des eaux”, 241 km from Marseillan to Toulouse, building began under the reign of Louis XIV, overseen by Pierre-Paul Riquet, from 1666) completion.

19th century:
1850, Powdery mildew disease.
1863, Phylloxera disease.
Foreign competition emergence, importation of Spanish, Italian, Algerian wines.
Appearance of spiked and chaptalized wines.

1893, Montpellier (Hérault county, Languedoc) demonstration against the fraud and the falsified wines.

Beginning of the 20th century:
The Languedoc suffers from a wine overproduction crisis and falls into an economic slump.
In order to deal with the disappearance of the “Ile de France” (North-central county, around Paris) vineyard caused by the Phylloxera disease), the State (in this case, the third Republic) chose to promote the importation of wines used for blending the mediocre continental wines.

1901, First winemakers and production grouping, at Maraussan.
30/01/1905, Creation of the “Comité régional de défense viticole des intérêts du Midi » (« Regional committee for the winemaking and Midi interest defense”).
1905, Béziers (Hérault county, Languedoc) demonstration.
The protesters engage in sloganeering, “Long live natural wine, down with the poisoners!”, following one of the movement’s leaders, the charismatic winemaker from Argeliers (Aude county, Languedoc), Marcelin Albert.

1906, The grape harvests aren’t sold.

11/03/1907, Creation of the “Comité d’Argeliers” (“Argeliers committee”).
Marcelin Albert is the chairman.
Some other key personalities are Elie Bernard (the son of the Argeliers baker), Marius Cathala (who will launch the “Tocsin”, weekly newspaper promoting the winemaking interests), Edouard Bourges, Louis Blanc, who will become the Tocsin chief editor, Jules Marty, François Richard, Just Cabannes, etc.

May 1907, Grouping of the Languedoc local committees for the defense of winemaking.
09/06/1907, Huge Montpellier demonstration, supported by all political parties.
Church’s support, by Bishop Anatole de Cabrières, welcoming the strikers spending the night in Montpellier’s cathedrals.

10/06/1907, Local elected representatives sling, 442 mayors resigned.
17/06/1907, The Gendarmerie is ordered to imprison the demonstrators and rebels.
18/06/1907, The 17th Infantry battalion of Béziers (who stationed at Agde) rebels (and arrives by feet at Béziers on 21/06/1907).
19/06/1907, In Narbonne, the mayor, Ernest Ferroul, who calls for the refusal to pay taxes, is arrested. It inflames the situation. Demonstrators go into the streets. The crowd obstructs the gendarmes’ progress by lying down on the floor.
Narbonne is under siege. The cavalry shoots fire at the crowd, five are dead and 33 injured.
20/06/1907, The entire Midi turns up into rebellion. Again, the Gendarmerie fires at the crowd. In Narbonne, Julie (called “Cécile”) Bourrel is shot dead, she was there accidentally and not demonstrating. 10 000 people will attend her funeral (22/06/1907).

21/06/1907, Clemenceau (at that time, chairman of the “Conseil”, with Armand Fallières as French republic president) faces a confidence vote in Paris. He manages to win back the majority at the “Chambre” by negotiating with the mutineers, proposing the anti-fraud law expected by the winemakers, and by … manipulating Marcelin Albert (*).
29/06/1907, Parliament was held. Jean Jaurès argues in favour of the anti-fraud law, which is accepted.
The same day, the Parliament enacts a law to prevent the wine wetting and the abuse of wine sugaring, thanks to a surtax on sugar.

More details about the 1907 anti-fraud law:
The law forbids the production and the sale of spiked or forged wines. The owners have to declare the surface of their vineyards. Harvest and stock have to be declared. Labor unions can take civil action in trials against fraud.
(Loi du 29 juin 1907 tendant à prévenir le mouillage des vins et les abus de sucrage: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000021801279&categorieLien=cid)

(*) Marcelin Albert manipulation by Clemenceau:
During their meeting (23/06/1907), Clemenceau promises to repress the fraud, if, in exchange, Marcelin Albert comes back to Languedoc in order to calm down the rebellion. Marcelin Albert agrees and even accepts to turn himself prisoner. Clemenceau signs him a safe-conduct to return to Aude and gives him one hundred francs in order to pay his way back by train.
Then, taking advantage of Marcelin Albert naivety, Clemenceau gives another version of the interview to the political press journalists, particularly regarding the one hundred francs banknote. As a result, the day after, the national daily newspapers call Marcelin Albert a traitor. When, discredited, he arrives in Narbonne (24/06/1907), he is almost lynched by his former friends. He has to find refuge in the bell tower of his village! On 26/06/1907, Marcelin Albert manages to travel to Montpellier and turns himself to the French authority.