In the last century, the vine was not so omnipresent. This land produced cereals and supported sheep. In recent years, European pressures to reduce the surplus wine production has lead to some replacement of vines by cereals and each year, the sunflower seems to spread a little further towards the east.

Other agricultural products include the olive and orchard fruits. Cherries and apples are grown in the villages in the hills in the north-western area of the Minervois, Citou being particularly well known for its produce. Citou is also famous for its market vegetables especially its onions, "l'oignon doux", for which there is a festival each November when you can see the ceremony held by the brotherhood of the knights of the onion.
In the plain, at the eastern end of the Minervois, around Argeliers and Mirepeisset, peaches and apricots are grown in abundance and almonds grow throughout the region. Their flowers are some of the earliest in our countryside.

Amongst the olives, the Lucque is a particular speciality of this area. The Minervois is also home, at Bize, for one of the few cooperatives specialising in olive products in this part of the south of France.

Sallèles d'Aude is the home to the only flour mill in the south of France. 60% of its flour production is exported to Africa and important by-products go to animal feed products for Spain.

Amongst the more technical products, I list the production of elecrical power using the force of the wind. A park of windmills has been constructed in the west of the Minervois, on the territory of the two communes of Limousis and Sallèles-Cabardès. This new technology has not been introduced without creating some dissent amongst the residents of the Minervois. Some see it as an industrial intrusion on the peace and calm of the Minervois and a negative impact on the beauty of our countryside. Others regards it as a sign of progress in the respect of the environment by using more ecological methods to generate power.
I find that the site has been well conceived, well installed with a great deal of respect for the environmental issues, less disturbing than many other modern structures (such as the traditional steel pylons and their transmission lines which race across the countryside), and with my engineers' eyes, I even find a certain beauty in these modern day titans. However, it would be difficult to be so tolerant if every hilltop had its own park of mills.

I have added a section on the arts. The Minervois is home to a number of artists : painters in oils and in water colors, sculptors in stone and in wood, potters and perhaps others. I hope this section can give them a little help with their publicity. In any case, it is available to them and I hope they will feel able to contact me with details of their work.