We can see lots of walnuts in our Périgord. Our region is certainly the place where the walnut was born. It existed 17000 years ago as archeologists found some shells near the spots where the Cro-Magnon man used to live in Peyrat next to Terrasson in Dordogne.
Walnuts were so valuable that in the 10th century , the peasants used to pay for their debts with walnuts as well as with grains. In the 13th century, the walnut oil was as precious as gold.
In the 18th century, an important trade took place on the rivers between our region and Bordeaux towards The Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain.
Unfortunately, at the end of the 19th century, new oils such as the colza oil and the oils coming from tropical countries became very competitive and sounded the knell of the walnut oil. In 1950, our farmers decided to react and created new walnut orchards with modern methods.