Vineyards

The presence of many vine arbours in the village is a reminder that vineyards used to be an important part of Collonges. There were vines in Correze from the 7th century onwards, and the golden age for Correzian wine was between the 17th and 19th centuries. Collonges’s landscapes were dominated by vineyards and chestnut groves. Wine farmers would build stone cabins called « vine cabins », where they would seek shelter and store tools. Many of these cabins still exist today in and around Collonges. Wine-making contributed to the town’s wealth. It was mainly sold locally and to abbeys. However, in the 1880s, Collonges’s vineyards were devastated by a plant-louse called phylLOXera. Entire hillsides of vineyards were contaminated. They were torn out and replaced by walnut trees. Walnuts have in fact become one of Collonges’s emblematic fruit.