Along the Languedoc seafood coast the unique Thau lagoon features an amazing structure of shellfish grown on ropes suspended from trellises in the water. Just a stone throw’s distance from the shoreline lie the picpoul vineyards. We found ourselves sampling local oysters in a modest waterside shack during one of many pilgrimages to French oyster regions.

“A waiter splashed something in our glass. We didn’t see the label but from the first compelling sip a lightbulb moment suggested planting this varietal in New South Wales for our oyster customers. So the next pruning season in France, we cajoled a leading picpoul figure to lend some cuttings, thus the name was born – BorrowedCuttings.”

After three years in quarantine, two years in a cloning lab and a book of prayers later we planted picpoul in the Central West, district some 70kms west of Orange, NSW.

The Name Picpoul. The image shown sums it all up. Hen Pecked.

Piquepoul French roots derive from the verb to peck and the noun for hen.

The local appellation is Picpoul de Pinet, centred around the postcard-pretty village of Pinet.

Oyster Roots

Without the Moonlight Oyster journey there would be no Borrowed Cuttings story.

The Moonlight chapter is now closed, but its reputation lives on through a new custodian Jase (moonlightoysters@gmail.com).