A look back at ancestral methods and techniques

Jean-Bernard Larrieu is the third generation of a family of smallholders who became winemakers over time. His grandfather was also a cooper…
In the wine cellar of the Clos Lapeyre estate, we have put together a collection of a hundred or so old tools and objects which show the way of life of farmers and craftsmen of times gone by. You will find :

• A collection of « machines » pulled by animals and other manual tools which were used for growing, pruning, tying, lifting and harvesting and for making wine.
• A cooper’s workshop with the tools used by the cooper to make a barrel in just one day !

Methods still used today

Even if machinery has made our work easier, our current methods and some of the principles of organic viticulture are exactly the same as those used almost a century ago : ploughing the land, using copper salts and sulphur for protecting the vines…