La Chartreuse yellow 40 ° - La Chartreuse
In 1084, when Bruno and his six companions arrived in the heart of the "Chartreuse" mountain, they found the ideal place they were looking for. Totally isolated, covered with dense forests, he offers them the silence and the loneliness favorable to their vocation. But they must find the means of their subsistence! A large perimeter of the forest is very quickly cleared to allow crops and pastures. Quite quickly, probably as early as the 12th century, they exploit the surrounding iron mines. As early as the 13th century, the existence of a "furnace" is reported at the place called "Fourvoirie", a few kilometers downstream of the monastery, at the edge of the torrent "Le Guiers". Trees transformed into charcoal, the driving force of the torrent, the power of waterfalls, provide them with the necessary energy to treat the iron ore and to extract the iron from it. Many testimonies remain of the manufactures of this epoch: grilles, doors, locks, plates of chimneys for example. In the 18th century, in order to protect the forests of his kingdom, King Louis XV imposes severe restrictions on the use of charcoal for metallurgical activities. Gradually the furnaces of the Carthusians were extinguished for lack of fuel; and the numerous swifts, which make it possible to transform the iron into "gueuses" (masses of metal), stop one after the other. The end of the 18th century was a difficult period: metallurgy was declining and the French Revolution led to the departure of the monks for many years. It was not until the 19th century that the Elixir and the liqueur, which had been known for hundreds of years, had considerable commercial growth. In 1935, following a landslide that destroyed the Fourvoirie distillery, production was transferred to Voiron. Unique production site of the Chartreuse, the Cellars and the distillery of Voiron welcome thousands of visitors each year. The 130 plants are prepared by the Carthusians in the plant room of the monastery, then delivered in large canvas bags to the distillery. Old centuries-old copper alembics alongside more modern stills, which allow the Carthusians to carefully control the distillation from the monastery located at 25 km.