In Vendée, the troussepinette is not a small thing

Behind the counter, Cédric is categorical. It's impossible to find troussepinette in a bar unless you've stumbled into a tourist trap. The warning from the owner of the Luçon harbor (Vendée), with his broad build, head as bald as a billiard ball, and star tattooed on his neck, is unequivocal. Next to the small town's notary's office, we've run aground at the Café du Port, named after the old canal that led to the sea, and risk drawing a blank. "Vin d'épines, or what you call troussepinette, is a cellar alcohol, " he continues, his bottles of rum in full view behind him. "Besides, customers never ask us for it. They know this isn't the place."

Next to him, Michel, born in 1937, no longer remembers his age, but nods, his nose in his second glass of white wine. "I drink it at my neighbor's. He serves it from the barrel when a friend comes by. It's the little glass before leaving." You get the message. To talk more seriously about troussepinette or thorn wine, there's no point running around cafes or bars. Better to go deep into the Vendée countryside and get it directly from the box, from the private individual. Hello to agricultural Vendée and its beverage made famous for a shot by