Languedoc Roussillon
CLOS DU GRAVILLAS
Clos du Gravillas is 8 hectares on a 300 meter-high plateau of crushed white gravel chips in the Parc Naturel de Haut Languedoc, squeezed between the canyons of St. Chinian and Minerve, surrounded by Mediterranean brush and scrub oak. The domaine is worked organically (Ecocert) with respect for the terroir, without herbicides, with care for the preservation of soil life. Weed control is by hand and with our well-aged mini-caterpillar tractors. Each head pruned vine is given particular attention during the summer as shoot selection, leaf-removal, bunch thinning, and rigorous field-sorting when we finally pick let us bring in grapes that are as ripe and perfect as possible. Pickers throw any grapes not good enough to eat on the ground
MAS DES CHIMERES
Le Mas des Chimera is situated on the edge of Lake Octon Salagou in Languedoc, France. The Dardé family has worked the land for several generations cultivating sheep, olive trees and vineyards. In the 1960s, general farming was abandoned in favour of vineyards. In 1974 Guilhem Dardés joined his father and uncle working in the vineyards. The grapes were eventually added to the Cave Cooperative in the village. In 1993 Guilhem moved to a private cellar and created Mas Chimera. His wife, Palma worked with him steadily starting in 1996, Maguelone her daughter joined them 2008 after extensive studies. Early on the desire to capture the expression of terroir had led the family to abandon the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides in the vineyard. The vineyards went through the certification process in 2008 and are now certified organic.
PAS DE L’ESCALLETTE
Le Pas de l’Escalette is the historic trail linking the Mediterranean plain to the high Larzac plateau. Sandwiched between the warming Mediterranean and the cooling northern mountains, Larzac is blessed with an ideal mesoclimate for indigenous grapes Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. That makes for a longer, tempered ripen-ing season and grapes that retain their balance and acidity. Julien Zernott and Delphine Rousseau acquired this estate in 2003. He was well established in the Loire Valley as a consulting oenologist. They work by hand, avoid chemicals in favour of plant-based vine treatments. They plant in limestone-rich north-facing vineyards that permit the crafting of wines with a degree of freshness to complement their Mediterranean warmth. Equal to the rugged terrain and dramatic scenery, the wines of Pas de L’Escalette are elegant, rounded and well balanced. They display wonderfully fresh and fragrant savoury aromatics.