Urban Exploration - The Abandoned Red Wine Cellar

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

A few months ago, I cracked open an "urbex map," and if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that I didn't expect to harvest such a torrent of crap. For months, I’ve been visiting locations and cursing every time they turn out to be duds: four filthy walls for an interior that is entirely empty and meaningless—not to mention the countless sites that are completely bricked up.

In short, after yet another crushing failure—the place was about as interesting as a semi-depressed oyster—I noticed I had a second point in the same town. Ugh... I’m not going. It’s only three hundred meters away. Ugh... I’m still not going. I have plenty of time on my hands... Ugh... I’m going, but I know I shouldn’t haaaaaaaave... To top it off, it requires a fair bit of climbing; it’s not exactly easy. What on earth am I doing here?

The interior is a wine cellar—a chai—filled with massive vats where the wine is stored. The architecture of these places is rather standardized; it’s actually amusing to see that the Tursan cellars in the Landes are perfectly identical to this one. Here, more than the light, it’s the colors that stand out: the marriage of red and blue creates a universe of radiant beauty. I have to say, I’m won over!

The three floors offer radically different atmospheres. The bottom is darkness, humidity, and cold. In a single word: a dungeon. The middle floor is balance, wine, and beauty. The top floor is above the vats—an airy, colorful space, also colonized by a few administrative offices, a busy black redstart, and a lab. Navigating from one to the other in complete serenity made for a truly great moment. I didn't expect it at all.

The abandonment of the site is likely due to the establishment of a very modern facility right next door, still owned and managed by the same group of winemakers.