A
SPIRIT

If you wish them to be brothers,
have them build a tower.
A. de St Exupéry

So often, when a search is undertaken, we discover more than we had hoped for…

United for thirty years in the pursuit of excellence for our wines, we, the monks and nuns of the Abbeys of Le Barroux and the Caritatis Winegrowers, have seen the dawn of a path to excellence bursting forth from our mountains. The Alliance of the spirit of the Caritatis Winegrowers with that of the Monastic Winegrowers has planted the desire in our hearts to create a vineyard and wines that reflect and share the greatest of realities: Charity.

Charity is our treasure and our urgent mission! Our wines thus serve as ambassadors and an invitation to everyone to walk on this path of excellence so that its pure nectar can intoxicate the world.

Spirit of the Caritatis Winegrowers

Can we understand what it means to devote one’s life, as a farmer does, to the sun’s passage and to tilling the soil?
Henri Pourrat

The happiness of being planted deep in the earth, and nourished from far below, like a tree with its roots.
C.F. Ramuz

1. The CARITATIS Winegrowers

esprit-3It is said that the winemakers’ hearts are revealed in their wine, and it is no less true that, as in any art, a knowledge of their heart will help you to appreciate their wine. So, let me tell you something of the Caritatis winegrowers. What I really want to share with you is what lies at the bottom of their souls: the rural soul that is a treasure for all who will stop a moment and allow themselves to be moved by the ancient candor, a kind of purity, possessed by those who live in contact with life’s truths and the rhythm Time… »

To read more of this dialogue between a Monk-Winegrower from Le Barroux and a Caritatis Winegrower, click on the topic that interests you (Only available in French for the time being) :

1. VIA CaritaTIs: rebuilding a great region

esprit-4« Via Caritatis, is a link between the Caritatis winegrowers and wine enthusiasts, or vacationers visiting rural France… A sharing of the treasure that is the spirit of the Provençal winemakers and, more broadly, of France’s agricultural world… »

To read more of this dialogue between a Monk-Winegrower from Le Barroux and a Caritatis Winegrower, click on the topic that interests you (Only available in French for the time being) :

Spirit of the Monk-Winegrowers

The wine always reveals the heart of the winemaker…
sometimes the heart of the winemaker reveals the Heart of God.
A monk

Work at the School
of St. Benedict

Ora et Labora

esprit-4« Since the fifth century after Christ, the monks of the order of St Benedict have spent their lives under the gaze of God in prayer and work. This is probably what has always made them so close to men, despite the amazement aroused by their cloistered, solitary lives. « Ora et labora » – « Pray and Work »-, the adage of the monks of St. Benedict is part of Western cultural heritage. The monks’ work in medieval times shaped the face of Europe. Tirelessly clearing land, draining marshes, constructing buildings, raising livestock, growing fruit and vegetables, making wine… the landscapes that we delight in today were sculpted by their courage and their sweat. There can be no doubt that they were inspired by a powerful vision of labor. You are these monks’ heirs, and also their successors, as the history of your two abbeys in Le Barroux has shown: established barely thirty years ago, these two abbeys reflect the vitality of the monastic spirit. Brother, can you speak to us of the monastic vision of work? … »

To read more of this dialogue between a Monk from Le Barroux and a Caritatis Winegrower, click on the topic that interests you (Only available in French for the time being) :

Biblical perspectives :
wine as a symbol of Charity

He brought me to his banqueting house and his banner over me was Love! (The spirit of Charity)
(Song of Songs)

esprit-3« Here is the story of Via Caritatis as a monk, immersed in the Bible day and night might perceive it, a story that opens up wonderful horizons on wine. We will travel the whole world of the biblical tradition, this source of Judeo-Christian tradition that is the historical “terroir” in which the growing of vines and the making of wine developed, often in connection with Charity.

Today, wine is present all over the world. That is a good thing. But it carries with it the very clear risk of a loss of symbolic meaning. There is a Chinese proverb: « When a finger points at the Moon, the fool looks at the finger. ». The goal of our Caritatis wines is to impart a little wisdom, so that, all over the world, we can turn the proverb around and say: « When wine shows us Charity, the wise person tastes and admires the wine with actions giving thanks for so great a gift »… »

To read more of this dialogue between a Caritatis Winegrower and a Monk and a Nun from Le Barroux, click on the topic that interests you (Only available in French for the time being) :

THE CARITATIS SPIRIT


A MORE EXCELLENT WAY

HYMN TO CHARITY

Earnestly pursue the best gifts.
And yet I show unto you
a more excellent way!

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not Charity,
I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
but have not Charity,
I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned,
but have not Charity,
it profits me nothing.

Charity suffers long
and is benign;
charity envies not;
charity does nothing without due reason,
is not puffed up,

is not injurious,
seeks not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinks no evil,

rejoices not in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

Charity is never lost.

Paul the Apostle, I°Corinthians (12.31 – 13.8)

Via Caritatis in gold on a black background

Charity
– A bright light shining in the darkness –
– The treasure of our lives –

FLAME ABOVE THE I OF CARITATIS

Charity
A flame which warms our hearts
and brings light to darkness

A flame to be passed on

A LINE WITH
HANDS BREAKING THROUGH:

Real, tangible Charity rising up to the sky

Between the earth and the sky: monks and wine-growers

HANDS UNDER CHARITY:

Real tangible Charity:
A gift, generosity, sharing

The work and brotherhood of
The wine-growers-Lux Montis

The work, brotherhood and prayer of the
Barroux Monks and Nuns

A ROSE WINDOW WITH A CROSS AND
4 CICADAS SEEN FROM BELOW
BETWEEN THE ARMS OF THE CROSS:

The cicadas in Provence:
The Soul of the Caritatis wine-growers

The Cross: the Soul of the Barroux Monks
and Nuns

Thanks | CGV | Legal notices | Website by © Orkidées, 2021 - Pictures: © Odile Pascal

Abbaye du Barroux & Vignerons Caritatis
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1201 Chemin des Rabassières - 84330 - Le Barroux - France
Tél : +33 (0)4 90 62 56 31 ou +33 (0)6 95 90 39 85
Fax : +33 (0)4 84 50 84 57

 

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