She had been imagined for the first time more than 25 years ago by Jean-Louis Normand, a winemaker now retired from the Champagne La Borderie, in Bar-sur-Seine (Aube). This cadole which recently sits in the center of the roundabout in March 19, 1962 is for him an old dream come true. “Before phylloxera, there were 24,000 ha of vines throughout the barois,” he recalls. “” Phylloxera Having passed through, nature has resumed its rights, and we find these cadoles more or less hidden in the middle of the trees. The cadole, this dry stone hut, is not only an aesthetic object. It is a strong signal: here begins champagne.
Cadoles are indeed traditional dry stone shelters that were once disseminated in the heart of the vines. They served as a day refuges for winegrowers. “Their function is to be like in the hearth of a fireplace, to benefit from a fire and to warm up, why not cook something in winter, and, in summer, to be cool and out of bad weather,” explains Jean-Louis Normand. “To keep this heritage, for example, we have the association of Cadoles de Champagne which was created in 2023 and has as a mission, in the 10-15 year olds, to be able to restore forty. »»
Dry stones wedged with meticulousness, without binding
A scientific inventory launched in 2020 by The hillsides, houses and champagne cellars made it possible to identify nearly 150 cadoles still visible in the bar coast, especially in the Riceys, in Gyé-sur-Seine and Courteron (Aube), as on the Crêtes chemin. These buildings testify to peasant history, a direct relationship to earth, cycles, survival. “Building without binding, just by the balance of stones, is both an art and a philosophy,” explains David Lazzarotti, the craftsman in the Riceys who produced the new Cadole.
This is not a simple heritage construction, but also the fruit of an intergenerational gesture. These are three generations of Lazzarotti-Guy, the father, David, the son, and the still student grandson-assembled the 15 tonnes of stone constituting the building. “It is handcrafted by my son, even if I was with him and that I did him a little service, as a father,” smiles Guy, restorer of the old buildings. “I was craftsman for 46 years. Cadoles, I know well, it’s in my hands. “David, he claims an approach faithful to tradition:” We have carried out it in the rules of the art. No binder. Everything is dry stone. Each stone is wedged with meticulousness… it is a construction game ”. And to specify: “On this cadole, we placed tens of thousands of holds. Everything is thought of so that the water drips, that the building holds without moving. We adapted to the field. Each cadole is unique. »»
Why not have moved an old one? The answer is clear: the heritage does not move, it respects itself. “It would be anachronistic, even a scandal, to dismantle a real cadole to expose it,” says Jean-Louis Normand. The choice of a new construction, while respecting old methods, allows both to preserve the existing and to transmit the know-how. And this is the whole sense of involvement of the Lazzarotti: “It is a tribute to our ancients, to what they built dry, without binding, with their hands. It’s admirable. We must continue to transmit that, ”says David.
Bring the soul of the vineyard to life
For Dominique Baroni, mayor of Bar-sur-Seine, this cadole plays another important role: “It marks the entrance to the Tourist Route du Champagne. And she really talks to people, much more than a marketing object like a giant bottle. She tells a story. Bar-sur-Seine being part of the small cities of character, it also makes an action in favor of this label, and it is important to always question yourself so as not to lose it. »»
The site of 27,000 euros, 100 % funded by donations via the Collecticity Platform, was praised by the local population. Even the starting skeptics are won over. “It is so well integrated into the decor that you have the impression that it has always been there,” smiles the mayor. This project is much more than landscaping. It is a stone manifesto, a gesture of memory and transmission. “This is our identity. We do not build the future without knowing where we come from, ”underlines David Lazzarotti. The Cadole de Bar-sur-Seine is therefore not a simple cabin. It is a benchmark, a tribute to know-how, and a promise to continue to bring the soul of the Champagne vineyard.
