CERVIN - Centre d'études et de recherches sur la vigne et le vin en Sciences humaines (Centre for studies and research on vines and wine in the humanities)
The idea of creating a centre for geographical and historical studies of vines and wine dates back to the late 1960s. At the time, several Bordeaux geographers were interested in viticultural issues. The Dean of the Faculty of Letters, Louis Papy, had given a remarkable public lecture at the University on the vineyards of Bordeaux, and Professor Henri Enjalbert was in the process of writing a comprehensive work on the history of vines and wine (to be published by Bordas in 1975), Alain Huetz de Lemps had just defended his Doctorat d'Etat thesis in Paris on the vineyards and wines of north-west Spain, under the supervision of Roger Dion and Georges Chabot, and two major theses had been undertaken on the vineyards of the Bordeaux region, that of René Pijassou on the Médoc and that of Philippe Roudié on the Gironde countryside.
With the support of History Professor Charles Higounet and the agreement of Jean Ribereau Gayon, Director of the Institute of Oenology at the Faculty of Science, A. Huetz de Lemps proposed to Dean Papy the creation of a Vine and Wine Research Centre. This was created on 29 November 1969 and established as a Research Centre of the new Université de Bordeaux III on 9 November 1970, with ministerial approval on 4 December 1970; Alain Huetz de Lemps was appointed Director of the Centre. Dean Papy, Henri Enjalbert, Alain Huetz de Lemps, René Pijassou and Philippe Roudié formed the core of the new humanities and social sciences research centre on vines and wine in Bordeaux.
The Centre's mission was then spelt out: "CERVIN's aim is the in-depth study of terroirs, rural societies, trade and all aspects of civilisation related to vines and wine. Research is devoted not only to the Bordeaux vineyards and vineyards specialising in brandies in south-western France (Cognac, Armagnac), but also to the general development of viticulture in France and to vineyards abroad, in particular Iberian vineyards and those in the southern hemisphere. The Centre is also working on a cartography of winegrowing with the aim of compiling a "Wine Atlas of France".
It is the continuation of this scientific adventure that this new version of the CERVIN website seeks to highlight.
Developments in university research and the requirement today for researchers to be part of large units led to its demise at the end of the 2000s. A core group of researchers and supporters with a passion for multi-disciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences on vineyards, and particularly on the Bordeaux region, took up the torch of CERVIN by creating an association based at the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin - Bordeaux-Aquitaine, where its extensive documentary holdings have been integrated into the Institute's library.
CERVIN is now an association for research, dissemination and promotion of the sciences of vines and wine. The aim of this research is to study the winegrowing civilisation and its many manifestations in time and space. Historians, geographers, lawyers, literary scholars, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, agronomists and oenologists are all involved in cross-disciplinary research.
The CERVIN is open to all partners in the world of wine and aims to involve all players in the wine industry.
Contact us : jchinne@orange.fr
