Beer or Byrrh?

When friends said let's go to a Beer Cave I wondered. Beer is made in breweries and wine in caves, but I'm always up for an adventure. Both Rick and I were at a lull in our writing and desperately needed time off.

Despite torrential rains we ended up in Thuir (not that far from Argelès) at the Byrrh (sounds like beer) Cave. The buildings were huge and we ducked in and out holding our umbrellas as protection during a tour.

In the 1800s Brothers Pallade and Simon Violet, saw that with the increasing interest wine, they should try to develop an apéritif wine flavored with cinchona. At first, much like Coca-Cola, it was marketed with as a health tonic to increase sales.

Their marketing was wonderful. In one example they showed an elderly couple in an embrace after drinking the beverage. It was not long before they had developed a world wide trade from a building partially designed by the architect for the Eiffel Tower. (see art work photo)

When the brothers died, one of the wives took over. Always good to their employees, they were a major provider of jobs in the area. Eventually the company was sold, but in Thuir there is still a major manufacturing plant. They boast the largest oak barrel producing vine in the world, 1,000,200 litres (see photo).

The tour itself used a film that bore all the trademarks of a film produced when film was new and was shown between holograms of red-suited, red-haired symbol of the product (see above) telling about the process. Where both Rick and I have worked in PR, marketing, exhibitions, we were as interested in the techniques of the tour as the content.

One room smelled wonderfully with coffee and cocoa beans, orange skins, and other ingredients.

A final tasting was definitely in order.

Who cared about the rain.