Our history
Why "Noria"?
On the first plots acquired in 2010 (Colombier terroir) stands a magnificent, virtually untouched Noria, from which the estate takes its name. A noria, a pretty word of Arabic origin, is a hydraulic mechanism used to extract the water essential to life. The noria is also used to bring water up from wells and irrigate plantations. Horses, mules or oxen, blindfolded at the time, turned the wheel, walking patiently around it. A string of buckets brought up the much-needed water.
For the Villa Noria estate, the noria is the symbol of water and life. The noria also reflects what building an estate represents: patience, ingenuity, hard work and the quest for the essential.
PS: See a cult scene in the film “La Folie des Grandeur” in which actor Louis de Funès is sent into the desert to operate a Noria + music from the film.
Why a "Villa"?
The Villa Noria estate, located close to the Via Domitia and a Roman oppidum (L’oppidum d’Aumes), is inspired by the way ancient Roman villas (Villa Rustica) functioned; the Latin word villa designates a landed estate comprising farm and residential buildings. In Roman times, a villa was a rural settlement consisting of a main residential building and a series of secondary buildings. Its origins date back to Roman times, when it was the center from which a farm was administered.
