POMEROL The first chapter in This is wine: its storied place and taste.
“Fruit of the earth, work of human hands, blessed be God forever” FRANCE - BORDEAUX - RIGHT BANK - POMEROL
POMEROL ON A SHOESTRING
In the spring of the year 1204, the Fourth Crusade, upon their quest to secure a safe route for pilgrims to the Holy Land, decided it would be more expedient and profitable to sack Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium as it was known at the time. So began the steady decline and eventual fall of the Eastern Mediterranean to the Ottomans, and with it pilgrim access to the Holy Land; and half the knowledge and culture of winemaking and drinking that was synonymous with the Greco Roman world, writes Kris Bonavita. This brings us to Pomerol, a sleepy backwater of orchards resettled in the 12th century by returning Knight Hospitallers of St John who opened hostels and made wine to care for pilgrims on their way to the sanctuary, Santiago di Compostella. From those modest beginnings of sporadic vineyards, the area gave rise to some of the most valuable wines to date. But it would take centuries of planting and replanting until the right grape was found for the right soil with the right winemaking techniques to produce bottles that are prized the world over for their complex yet understated elegance. Photography this page CAB. Place de la Bourse, designed by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel and built from 1730 to 1775 along the Garonne River in Bordeaux. The Miroir d'eau, built in 2006, is the world's largest reflecting pool. 43
