The Wine of France: How Vineyards Shaped Revolution and Identity

In this episode, Lucas and Luna uncork the story of wine in France — not as a drink, but as a force that shaped politics, class, and national identity. They trace how Roman vineyards in Gaul laid the groundwork for medieval monastic viticulture, and how the church became the largest landowner and winemaker in France. The conversation dives into the 1789 Great Fear, when peasant uprisings targeted aristocratic wine cellars, and the 1907 revolt of Languedoc vintners that forced Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau to send in the army. They discuss the 1855 Bordeaux classification, created for the Exposition Universelle, and how the phylloxera epidemic in the 1860s devastated vineyards and spurred the invention of grafted rootstocks. The episode also explores the role of wine in World War I, where soldiers received daily rations of pinard, and how the appellation d'origine contrôlée system, established in 1935 by Baron Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié, protected regional identities. Along the way, they touch on the Champagne riots of 1911 and the peculiar story of how Dom Pérignon didn't actually invent sparkling wine. This is a history of France through its most iconic crop. #History #FexingoHistory #FrenchWine #Viticulture #FrenchRevolution #Phylloxera #Champagne #Bordeaux #Languedoc #DomPérignon #AppellationContrôlée #GeorgesClemenceau #GreatFear #Pinard #BaronLeRoy #ExpositionUniverselle #RomanGaul #WorldWarI Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo