Gigondas

          These are our historic parcels, the terroir in which the wines of our estate have been firmly rooted for six generations, starting when the Domaine was established in 1874. In 1852 the town council of Gigondas decided to auction 12 hectares of communal land, and the vines that were soon planted there revealed these great terroirs.

LOCATION : These parcels are all entirely within the Les Hautes Garrigues lieu-dit (named place) on the plateau of Gigondas.

SURFACE AREA : 2.8 hectares.

GEOLOGY: During the Quaternary period, alternating ice ages and periods of heat caused large quantities of scree to be transported from the Dentelles de Montmirail as far as the plain, forming a colluvial fan known as the Cône de la Font des Papes. In the heart of this geological formation, Les Hautes Garrigues parcel sits on sandy soil rich in red clay and coarse gravel.

METHOD OF CULTIVATION : Ecocert-certified organic and Demeter-certified biodynamic.

GRAPE VARIETIES : Grenache 50%, Mourvèdre 50%.

AGE OF VINES : Average 75 years.

HARVESTING & VINIFICATION : The grapes are hand-picked into crates and sorted manually in the vineyard before a second, table sorting in the cellar.  A proportion is destemmed, the quantity being determined by the nature of the vintage and the parcel, and the grapes are fed by gravity into the vats to ensure the integrity of the berries.  Fermentation takes place in thermo-regulated stainless-steel vats for 20 to 30 days, with two long pumping over sessions daily. Punching down is decided after tasting. Pressed pneumatically. Malolactic fermentation in vat. The wines are clarified by settling over winter in the cellar. Barrel filling occurs in the spring. 

AGEING : 18 months in 36-hectoliter oak Stockinger foudres, and 8-hectoliter terracotta amphorae. Unfined and unfiltered at bottling.

PERSONALITY : The wines that come from these parcels are profound and serious, with spicy, liquorice notes and chewy tannins which give them extraordinary cellaring capacity.