The rebirth of Notre Dame
Gothic architecture and wine
This Substack is about wine, so before anyone queries the connection between the restoration of Notre Dame and wine, I need state that Gothic Architecture exists because of wine. You can skip five paragraphs down to find out the how and the why.
I have just spent the evening (Saturday 8 December) walking around the perimeter of this iconic structure within the well-defined limitations of access on the Left Bank, barricaded and policed as though we were expecting a siege. Instead, everyone seemed more than usually normal and average and decidedly non-threatening. Unlike the mega-sporting events of the Olympics, the opening (which in many respects was the closing, as only the elite, heads of state, VIPS, a number of notable billionaires, and thankfully, the firemen who saved it from collapsing and those who actually did the work of restoring it) was not very well attended. Probably because it was raining and a bit chilly, and though Meteo France warned us there would be strong winds and snow, it was actually quite clement.
I live within a 5 minute walk of Notre Dame and so it has been a presence in my life for a very long time. To the point that one doesn’t really even consider it. You see it. It’s there, but then you don’t think much more about it. Its a fixture of the landscape that is as constant as night and day.
When it caught fire on 15 April 2019 my daughter called advising me to avoid going anywhere near it. I responded by saying that we should definitely get as near as we can as this was impossible and unthinkable. She suggested that if we were going to watch Notre Dame burn, we should have wine. And so we met on the Pont Marie, in silence, in awe, and disbelieving that what we were seeing was truly happening. 900 years of history in flames. And everyone around us stunned, teary eyed, silent, in shock, watching the most constant, immutable, stable, always reliable, fixed, and unchanging monument of Paris in flames. It was beyond belief, and none of us seemed capable of admitting that what we were seeing was actually happening. And where were the helicopters and fire fighters spraying water to put it out?!
Hot stone and water, not a good idea. Thermal shock. But we didn’t think of that at the time. The entire edifice could have collapsed. But it didn’t.
This was not the first time Notre Dame cathedral was threatened with extinction. In 1793 it was put up for sale but nobody bought it, though various entrepreneurs proposed that it be torn down to be rid of the fanaticism they believed it represented. Struggling on, it was decorated with a cardboard facade in the style of the troubadours when Napoleon seized the crown from Pope Pious VII and crowned himself Emperor. Tensions between church and state continued and Notre Dame was systematically robbed of its treasures. Victor Hugo finally helped revive interest in Notre Dame in the early 19th century with his story of Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
But let’s get back to origins. Wine is the wellspring of Gothic architecture, which dates from the 12th century and is what made this innovative style of architecture possible. It was the proliferation of the vine and the wealth garnered from the sale of wine that produced the necessary conditions for Gothic architecture to flourish. As has already been mentioned several times in previous posts, the Paris region, the Île-de-France, was, up until two centuries ago, the largest wine producing region in the world. Gothic architecture was created and developed in the Paris basin, which stretches north to south from Reims to Chartres and east to west from Senlis to Sens. The wealth generated from the sale of wine abroad brought enormous riches to the abbeys and the aristocracy.
What do you do when you make a lot of money? You build a bigger house. Wealth, architectural skill, a ready labour force and the requisite materials for building made it possible for the great Gothic churches of France to be built. Most of these are centred in and around the Paris basin, such as cathedrals in Amiens, Bourges, Chartres, Reims, and Notre Dame de Paris, the Sainte Chapelle, the Abbey church of Saint Denis, to name a few.
Both the profits and the quantities of wine that flowed through Paris were prodigious. It is estimated that per-capita wine production in France was twice what it is today, creating a cash surplus that afforded a deeply religious society the luxury of building to the glory of God. The best vineyards at the time were indeed in the areas where the Gothic style was created and flourished. It can then be said that wine is the single most important economic factor in the cultural and spiritual growth of the time.
What role does wine play in the Notre Dame of today? Funding for the restoration of Notre Dame came from many sources, but the two biggest contributors - 200 million from the Arnault family (LVMH) and 100 million from the Pinault family - both have significant holdings in the wine industry.
LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), owned by the Arnault family is known the world over for Moët et Chandon Champagne and Hennessy Cognac (which is of course made from vinified grapes that are distilled). Their investments in wine & spirits are too vast to list, but among the more prestigious domains they own are the Clos des Lambrays, Cheval Blanc, Château Yquem, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Mercier, and Ruinart.
The Pinault family, who own Château Latour in Bordeaux through Artémis Domaines have recently partnered with the Champagne house Maisons & Domaines Henriot. They also have shares in Champagne Jacquesson and own Bouchard Père et Fils, Clos de Tarte, and Eugénie in Burgundy, Chateau Grillet in the Rhone and Eisele and Beaux Frères in the US.
So once again, Notre Dame has been very largely funded through the sale of wine. Santé!
Thank you for letting me into your world and for reading the Paris Wine Walks Substack. Your support is invaluable as are your comments, suggestions, critiques, dreams, thoughts and remembrances. A little encouragement goes a long way, so please consider a paid subscription, which need cost no more than (a cheap) glass of wine per week. Or, book a wine walk!
My book, ‘The Hidden Vineyards of Paris’ (reviewed in Jancis Robinson’s wine blog, the Wine Economist, National Geographic Traveler UK, UK Telegraph) is available for purchase via our website and at anglophone bookshops and wine shops in Paris. You can also find it at the Musée de Montmartre and the Librairie Gourmande.
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