Toques et Clochers

Toques et Clochers, a wine festival organized by the Sieur d’Arques winemakers of Limoux, takes place locally every year in order to celebrate and promote the different wines of the area.

The festival has been running for almost 20 years now, in a different town or village of the area every year. This year’s event was in Couiza, a small town about 15km south of Limoux, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The money raised by the festival each year goes towards the restoration of the belltower (clocher) of the church of whichever village the festival was held in.

The ‘toques’ part of  ‘Toques et Clochers’ means a chef’s hat and is a reference to the many food stands you will find dotted about the town of wherever the festival is held. Amongst the types of food sold on the streets of Couiza this year were aiguillettes (sliced duck breast), oysters, chips, foie gras, moules marinères (mussels with wine wine, garlic and parsley), crêpes, pâtisseries, churros, toutière landaise (apple tart with prunes and Armagnac), and assiette de la mer (mixed seafood).

The wine tasting stalls are also found dotted about the town, with a different stall representing a different wine making are. The different areas of white wine represented were: Terroir d’Autan, Terroir Haute Vallée, Terroir Méditerranéen and the Terroir Océanique. There was also a stand for bubbly wine of the area, including the famous Blanquette de Limoux, and one stand for red wine of Limoux.

Prices were generally at 2 euros per glass (or 10 euros for  a pitcher) when you bought the wine at each stand. If you bought tokens at entry points, you could get 3 ‘dégustations’ (tastings) for 5 euros, or a combined deal of a return bus journey to Couiza and back plus a Toques et Clochers glass plus 1 dégustation for 5 euros.

These bus services were available from Quillan, Limoux and Rennes Le Château, and were specifically for the festival. People attending the festival were indeed obliged to take these bus services as all roads to Couiza were simply cut off… the towns and villages that host the festival are simply not large enough to take all the people who come to the festival. Last year’s estimates were at around 40,000, and it was meant ot be more for this year.

Apart from food and drink dotted around the town there also certain ‘expositions’  and strange structures… one such example is enormous models of grapes attached to the trees, in an attempt to make them look like vine trees.

Certain buildings were open to display examples of local artists’ work, or to give local writers a chance to publicise their books.

The streets of the town was also littered with any and every sort of music, from rock to panpipes to samba to traditional occitan songs.

As night fell, the streets became ever more packed and it soon became a challenge to make your way from one end of the street to the other.

Lights came on around the bridges over the river…

and multicoloured patterned lights began to decorate the clocher (church tower) in order to illuminate the focus of the festival.

                                                                                                                                                       The atmosphere became ever more lively and festival-like as the evening wore on, with dancing in the street and people singing along to the music.  People of all ages were seen thoroughly enjoying themselves, and this is very much an occasion suitable for all.

I would encourage people to come to with a group of friends if you really want to have fun and let your hair down, though it is equally something that is fun to do with the family- bringing children is normal and fine, and the whole atmosphere of the town is jolly, happy and safe.

A truly good, simple, fun experience.

Photos courtesy of Jan Riordan, Colours of Pays Cathare.