Help pick agave plant in Marseille so it can be made into liquor
It will be the third batch of ‘agave’ spirit made by company
Agave grows widely throughout southern Europe. Here it is growing near Marseille
eric laudonien/Shutterstock
The French makers of mezcal – a spirit distilled from agave, a plant similar in appearance to a cactus - are starting their latest vintage with an ‘attack’ on agaves growing in the park surrounding Marseille’s emblematic church.
Labelled eau de vie d’agave to avoid problems with importers of Mexican mezcal, the French spirit was pioneered by a former art teacher, Axel Schindlbeck, who saw the similarity with the invasive agaves around Marseille and those cultivated in Mexico to make mezcal and tequila.
Plants uprooted and removed by municipal teams are usually composted, but he decided it would be more ecological to use them to make a mezcal-type drink.
He is now calling on volunteers to help them collect the agave for a new batch, by harvesting the plants near a major park in Marseille’s city centre.
First batch made from Calanques agave
After years of trial and error, Mr Schindlbeck told The Connexion how they hit on a process where the agave hearts are cooked in a sauna to convert starch to sugar, before the resulting liquor is distilled.
The first campaign harvested agaves which had invaded the Frioul archipelago, part of the Parc national des Calanques.
Volunteers, including teams of women from BNP Paribas banks had to use pickaxes, sharpened spades, saws and giant tree loppers to uproot the plants, which in France grow in rocky areas.
Read more: French national park hails success of introducing visitor quotas
Use of mechanical tools banned due to park regulations
A second vintage came from agave cleared along the famous railway line between Marseille and Mirimas, the chemin de fer de la cote bleue.
Now, Reveeal, the association formed to clear agaves and make the spirit, is appealing for volunteers to harvest it from the park surrounding Notre Dame de la Garde, the large cathedral on a hill which overlooks Marseille’s old town.
However, due to city rules, machinery cannot be used, and the agave will need to be cleared by hand.
“We are preparing a cuvée sacrée,” the association wrote in its appeal for volunteers.
“We need volunteers to help dig up these agaves on Saturday September 14.”
At the end of the day the volunteers will meet at the Carry Nation cocktail bar, run by one of the members of the association.
Anyone interested can get further details from info@reveeal.org.
The resulting spirit is likely to be as expensive as the eaux-de-vie from the first two vintages, at around €100 for a half bottle, a price Mr Schindlbeck justifies as fair, given the work involved in making it.
