• The Estivales on the esplanade, in Montpellier, it's over.

    The meeting place for Languedoc wine lovers is moving to Domaine d'O this summer.

  • The event will no longer take place every Friday, but on two weekends, in the evening, on Fridays and Saturdays July 29 and 30 and August 19 and 20.

  • The focus will be on culture, with musical and circus performances.

Before the Covid-19 epidemic, every Friday in the summer, for fifteen years, we chained the guns, in Montpellier (Hérault).

Thousands of people thronged the esplanade to taste the local wines.

A huge success.

So huge that it had become almost impossible to find a place on the boulevard, somewhat distorting the original conviviality of the event.

This summer, the Estivales on the esplanade is over.

The municipality and the AOC Languedoc union have opted for a new format, officially because of "the work on the Esplanade, the desire to always innovate and put culture back at the center of events", indicates the town hall, in the explanations provided to elected officials during the municipal council on Tuesday.

From now on, the event will take place at the Domaine d'O.

A site now under the control of the metropolis, accessible by tram.

July 29 and 30 and August 19 and 20

It will no longer be every week, but on two weekends, in the evening, on Fridays and Saturdays July 29 and 30 and August 19 and 20.

The principle remains the same: for 6 euros, you can enjoy two Languedoc wine tastings with two tickets, and leave with a glass stamped with the colors of the event.

Seven or eight winegrowers will participate in the evening, each time.

You can also snack on charcuterie and local cheeses.

The gauge, it is largely revised downwards: approximately 2,000 people will be able to participate each evening in the event.

If groups already provided the atmosphere on the esplanade, this new version of the Estivales will put culture at the heart of the event.

"To enhance the conviviality of these evenings, musical and circus interludes", the programming of which is entrusted to the Domaine d'O team, will be on the bill, we learn.

In addition, the town hall indicates that a radio set will distill throughout the evenings "interventions and stories of professionals who will punctuate to make discover our soils, its wines and its gastronomy".

Entertainment for children will also be offered, with the city aiming to reinforce the family character of these evenings.

In particular "assemblies of grape juice, discoveries of aromas", explains to

20 Minutes

Jean-Philippe Granier, creator of the concept and technical director of AOC Languedoc.

"We shouldn't call it the Estivales anymore"

"We should no longer call it the Estivales, it will be something else," says this expert.

The name of this new event, moreover, has not yet been revealed.

It will probably be in the next few days, at the same time as the poster.

“There is the foundation of the Estivales, of course, continues Jean-Philippe Granier.

The people who come will be able to eat, drink, with a little music.

But there is another dimension, a cultural dimension.

When we leave these evenings, we will have learned something.

On the wines of Antiquity, on biodynamics, agroecology, food and wine pairings…”

Our wine file

Note, other Estivales, little sisters of the Montpellier event, will take place this summer: at the Saporta farmhouse, in Lattes, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at the Passerelle du Pilou, in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, on Wednesdays (except July 13), in the park of the castle, in Salinelles, on Thursdays, and on the market place, in Sommières, on Mondays.

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