Episode 65 - The Via Podiensis, Part 4: The Price of Wine Is Eternal Vigilance

Let's re-walk the Via Podiensis together! Whereas many of the pilgrim interviews on the podcast take a thematic approach, focusing on a few big picture issues, this series of episodes will dig more into the specifics of walking. In this fourth episode in the series, we arrive at the major decision that pilgrims face on the Via Podiensis: which route to follow from Figeac to Cahors? Bronwen Perry talks us through the default approach for many pilgrims, sticking with the GR65 all the way, strolling through the Causse de Limogne. And while Cahors today is increasingly well known for its wine, the picture was very different 150 years ago, when the future of wine was cast in doubt by a small bug from the United States, phylloxera. Dr. George Gale, author of Dying on the Vine: How Phylloxera Transformed Wine, tells the tale of how this threat was overcome through international collaboration, but also why we can never grow complacent.