To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fronton appellation, the producers have chosen to publish an open letter recounting the journey they’ve taken and the battles they’ve had to fight to build, preserve, and develop the Fronton vineyard. Rich in lessons, sincere and objective, this letter deserves to be read in order to truly appreciate the time and energy invested by this dynamic and endearing wine region. Enjoy your reading.
Négrette, the soul of our vineyard
Yes, it had to be learned — because the winds were not always in our favor. The Fronton vineyard dates back a long way. Vine cultivation appeared between the Tarn and Garonne rivers in the 12th century, complementing subsistence farming, and became dominant during the 18th century — still considered the vineyard’s golden age.
But phylloxera destroyed the work of generations. While local producers were determined to replant their native grape varieties, they also had to resign themselves to planting direct-producing hybrids and, fearing the emergence of an unknown disease, diversified their plantings.
Thanks to the producers’ perseverance, Négrette cultivation was preserved. This was recognized by two rulings of the Toulouse civil court, dated July 25, 1944, and July 30, 1945, which established Négrette as the dominant variety in the red and rosé wines of Villaudric and Fronton.
The frost of 1956 reignited the threat, but the winemaking community held firm. The official recognition of the appellation on February 7, 1975, confirmed Négrette’s preeminence. And yet, Négrette was widely distrusted: its grapes are fragile, and producers have to reduce yields to obtain high-quality juice. Even among themselves, some were tempted by the siren call of standardization and the idea of borrowing other regions’ grape varieties.
Négrette’s return to grace was gradual, supported by the creation of a conservatory in 1997 gathering 192 different clones, and by the unwavering commitment of ambitious producers who, on January 16, 2009, obtained INAO authorization to produce wines made from Négrette alone. These single-varietal wines, now praised by top sommeliers, have become a source of restored pride — and a spark for creativity, for Négrette, when understood and cared for as it deserves, can reveal surprising and previously unknown qualities.
We must never stop fighting
Our vineyard has endured many harsh blows. The frost of 1956 nearly ended viticulture in Fronton. In the Villaudric area, more than 80% of the vines were destroyed, and producers were forced to uproot them. Some, unable to afford replanting, had no choice but to move to the city to make a living. Others had to start from scratch.
At that time, the vineyard was divided into two VDQS-designated areas (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure): Fronton and Villaudric — the latter being nested within the former ("every Villaudric wine is a Fronton wine, but not every Fronton wine can claim the Villaudric name," as the saying went).
The 1956 disaster fostered solidarity. The producers came together to request recognition of a single unified appellation. It took nearly twenty years, but they succeeded.
In 2003, a proposed airport project once again threatened the vineyard’s existence. On March 15 of that year, 20,000 people marched through the streets of Toulouse in protest — a powerful show of force. On April 7, Fronton was removed from the list of possible airport locations.
And how could we not mention Bouysselet? In 2016, a couple of producers identified old vine stocks that didn’t match any known varieties in the vineyard. In their family, they remembered that previous generations had grown a white grape called Bouysselet, which had disappeared after 1944.
Genetic analysis confirmed that these vines were indeed Bouysselet, and in 2018, the grape was officially registered in the French Catalogue of cultivated plant species and varieties — making it legal once again to cultivate and vinify.
A new milestone was reached on April 16 of this year: since that date, Bouysselet has been authorized as an accessory grape variety in the production of Fronton red and rosé wines. The next step may be the recognition of white wines under the Fronton appellation, reconnecting the vineyard with a long-lost tradition interrupted after World War II.
Wine is a source of positive identity
Our story is one of mixing and mingling. The vineyard was born from the paths of 12th-century pilgrims on the Way of St. James, who traveled across Europe, spreading grape varieties, ideas, and know-how.
Closer to our own time, Italian immigrants and settlers returning from North Africa (pieds-noirs) helped shape what Fronton is today — and others after them have continued to bring the world to Fronton and Fronton to the world.
Like any rural region, ours has known rivalries and local disputes. But we have learned that wine brings people together, opening shared paths. We felt it in our lives as producers, and we saw it again in the 2022 dissertation by young anthropologist Étienne Lacombe, produced for the Fronton Wine Syndicate as part of an oral history preservation project.
Because identity is only ever shared, we make no distinction — in saying who we are — between our appellation reds and rosés, the whites that may soon join them, and the independent spirits represented by pét-nats and orange wines. This diversity is ours — and it’s the source of the energy of a vineyard that refuses to close in on itself.
We are proud to be the heirs of those who, in 2001, uprooted 5,000 vine plants, potted them, dyed them pink (the color of Toulouse), and arranged them into a massive vine-shaped heart in the Place du Capitole — selling them with the help of Secours Populaire to support the victims of the AZF factory explosion.
Wines of the heart for the people of Toulouse, Fronton wines are also wines for anyone who embraces the values of the South-West — hospitality and generosity.
Our identity is open — just like this letter, which is addressed both to those who have long shared our path, and to those who will discover us for the first time through the grace of our anniversary.