QR Veyre-Monton – Bourg 1
A wine-growing village
This wine press, restored by the heritage association « Sites et Patrimoines » in 2013, is a reminder that Monton was a wine-growing village for centuries. There were dozens of cellars and vats. The 1821 land register shows that vines occupied 480 hectares within the commune, of an agricultural area spanning 1,130 ha. The wine trade was mainly local, between the higher-lying areas to the east and Monton. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, wealthy notables from Monton and Veyre sent wine to Paris by river. Loaded at the port of Les Martres-de-Veyre, their boats sailed down the Allier and then the Loire, and via the Briare Canal to the Seine.
Grape growing reached its peak in 1885, when phylloxera decimated the southern vineyards, although it had not yet spread to the Auvergne. Vines covered 700 hectares of the commune. But when the region was also affected from 1890 onwards, many winegrowers were ruined. Between 1891 and 1911, Monton lost more than 30% of its population.
Image captions
- The still in Monton at the beginning of the 20th century
- Statue of Saint Verny, patron saint of Auvergne winegrowers, in the church in Monton