(prounounced “tooear” and “beear”)
I recently visited the town of Thuir, not far from Perpignan and in the most southern area of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The sidewalks in this town are marble; the town was full of charm.
Thuir is home to “les Caves Byrrh” that houses the largest oak vat in the world (1,000,200 liters) in its production of “Byrrh,” an aperitif wine since 1873. I took a guided tour and learned it was first used medicinally as a tonic, as it contained quinine, and was sold only in pharmacies. The mixture of a variety of spices and zest (orange, cinnamon, coriander, cocoa, and coffee) gives each type of wine its unique flavor; the company also produce Dubonnet, a dry vermouth.
Of course, I did a wine tasting after the tour, and ended up buying a bottle of “SOHO” liquor, flavored with cherries and ginger, which could be added to champagne – sounded delicious and definitely ‘sold’ me!
Test your knowledge of “Byrrh” in this
quiz (in French with answers provided)
 |
| Process for making Byrrh |
 |
| Marble streets in Thuir |
 |
| Rotating ball water fountain |
 |
| Wine tasting |
 |
| Storage vat |
 |
| Wine tasting station |
No comments:
Post a Comment