Helicopter over Corbieres and La Clape

Oh boy. So I got to fly over some of my favorite places in the Languedoc in one of Gerard Bertrand’s helicopters. Naturally we started and ended at two of his vineyards: Cigalus in Boutenac Corbieres and L’Hospitalet in La Clape. The journey took me over the northeastern portion of the Corbieres, the etangs (type of marshland) around Bages and Gruissan and the Massif de la Clape.

These are all landmarks that define the department of Aude in the Languedoc. These are some of my favorite places, and it was great to see them from above.

The big thing to take in is that the Languedoc and Aude in particular has a varied terrain with lots of peaks and valleys, plateaus, hills, and so on. These differing reliefs run right up to the coast and provide a wonderful backdrop for planting grapevines. They drain well and they create many different microclimates in close proximity. The Languedoc is a land of diversity!

I traced the approximate helicopter route on google maps if you want to follow along.

I also tried to caption a few photos from the ride so that you can be more certain of what you’re seeing when.

The landmarks in the video that people ask about most are the pink rectangles near Gruissan’s beachfront. Those are salins or salt pans where sea salt is harvested from the brine that is left behind after the sun evaporates sea water. The pink color comes from a microalgea called Dunaliella salina. Not all salt pans have this beautiful shade of pink and most fleur de sel I’ve seen in other regions retain a sort of grayish color rather than the pink one.

: taking off from cigalus in boutenac corbieres

: the garrigue plants resist hot, dry summers in the languedoc

: vines beside garrigue in boutenac corbieres

: aerial view of garrigue in the corbieres with helicopter shadow

: aerial view of garrigue and corbieres mountains

: waving goodbye to domaine cigalus and the buses

: vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights

: vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights

: vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights

: vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights

: vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights

: corbieres mountains

: vines cover many stretches of the corbieres varied heights

: corbieres

: corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast

: corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast

: corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast

: corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast

: corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast

: corbieres mountains near the mediterranean coast

: passing over the mountains and approaching the mediterranean coast

: crossing the autoroute A9

: vines vines vines in the corbieres…we make a lot of wine in the Languedoc

: corbieres right up to the coast

: corbieres right up to the coast and bages in the side of the frame

: Bages in the corbieres in aude

: etang de bages et de sigean

: bages projects into the etang de bages et de sigean

: our crazy pilot

: etangs on the mediterranean coast

: marshes along the coast

: the land gets a bit flatter as you near narbonne

: etangs dans l’aude

: etangs dans l’aude

: etangs dans l’aude

: gruissan in aude

: Gruissan vines in the south of France

: Gruissan in languedoc

: Gruissan in languedoc

: salt pans of gruissan and their notable pink color

: salins de gruissan

: from above, the salt pans of gruissan look like pink rectangles

: salins de gruissan et leur couleur rose qui marque le fleur de sel

: pink rectangular salt pans of gruissan

: gruissan is a beautiful beach town

: Gruissan is a beach town in the languedoc roussillon

: Gruissan is a beach town in aude

: Gruissan is a beach town near narbonne

: etang du grazel

: gruissan

: gruissan

: gruissan plage

: gruissan sand banks

: gruissan sand banks near narbonne in aude

: nearing the massif de la clape in a helicopter

: over le massif de la clape in a helicopter

: flying over vineyards on la clape

: massif de la clape

: massif de la clape

: approaching l’hospitalet on massif de la clape in a helicopter

: approaching vineyard in a helicopter

: trees and garrigue at l’hospitalet on la clape

: vineyards in la clape with plateau in background

: hospitalet landing pad

: hospitalet vines

: the shadow of our helicopter on hospitalet vines as we do a the first half of a barrel roll

: vines around l’hospitalet

: flying over l’hospitalet in La Clape

: landing at l’hospitalet on the massif de la clape

Enjoy the pictures and video! I hope you all get a chance to experience the massive beauty of the region one day.

Tags: aerial, Bages, boutenac, Boutenac Corbieres, corbières, Dunaliella salina, Etangs, Gruissans, helicopter, la clape, languedoc, Massif de la Clape, salins, salt flats, salt pan, vineyard, wine

English | Ryan O'Connell August 11, 2011

7 Comments

By Per-BKWine, August 12, 2011 @ 12:55 am

In “one” of Gerard Bertrand’s helicos? He has a whole collection? Did he pilot it himself?
By Ryan O'Connell, August 12, 2011 @ 1:09 am

haha, they had at least two flying around during the jazz fest. They had contracted pilots. Given how much wine we enjoyed that day, it’s probably for the best that we weren’t piloting ourselves ;D
By Per-BKWine, August 12, 2011 @ 4:48 am

Not entirely a joke though. Michel Picard at Chateau Chassagne Montrachet, http://www.michelpicard.com, flies his helicopter himself: Michel Picard and his helicopter
By Steve Shanahan bottleDJ, August 12, 2011 @ 10:08 am

Ryan something tells me that if this was your first trip to the Languedoc, you would have made the same decision to move there all over again. What an experience. BTW, I love the La Clape wines!

Be good.
SS
By Ryan O'Connell, August 14, 2011 @ 2:22 am
By Yohann, January 7, 2012 @ 3:41 am

It’s look like you had a pleasant day !!!