OXYDATING WINES
Our oxidating wine collection whisks you away to a vintage, sepia-colored world of tanned leather and Havana cigars, where time stands still.
We use our great-grandparents’ barrels, more than a century old, to perpetuate Roussillon’s tradition of oxidating wines.
N°1 :
A Roussillon rarity: a Macabeu aged for eight years with a veil of yeast on top. This wine is the very essence of the Mediterranean, with seductive aromas of flint, green apple and fresh hazelnut. We make only 300 bottles a year, because great wine doesn’t grow on trees.
Enjoy it with an aged alpine pressed and cooked cheese such as Beaufort or Comté, or a soft, washed-rind Munster or Epoisses.
Vin de France
Grape: Macabeu
Soil: Agly valley, black schist
Informations techniques (non exhaustives): The grapes are direct pressed, and fermented slowly at low temperature, with no residual sugar. They are aged in barrels for eight years at the back of the cellar. A film of natural yeast forms on the surface, protecting the wine from mildew and conferring its distinctive aromas of flint and fresh hazelnut.
N°2 :
Barn-aged for ten years, this is an oldfashioned rancio of the kind traditionally made in Roussillon. It is used mainly in traditional dishes such as poulet aux gambas.
The principle was to take rich, powerful wines and basically forget about them in the cellar, patiently allowing them to evolve in contact with air, using half-full barrels. After long years, they sometimes acquired a rancid taste, hence the name rancio.
Vin de France
Grapes: Carignan, Macabeu, and Grenache (black, white and grey)
Soil: Agly valley, black schist
How we make it: Traditional vinification, then aged in barrels in the barn for ten years.
N°3 :
This wine is a real curiosity. It comes from old interplanted vines, vinified and aged in barrels outdoors. If you put your ear to these, you may hear the bubbles bursting during fermentation, with the intervals gradually growing further apart and eventually disappearing. Fermentation is stopped naturally, leaving 40 grams of residual sugar in the wine. This sweetness is largely offset by a higher level of acidity due to the concentration of the wine, giving it a unique personality.
The peaty, almost iodized aromas are reminiscent of Scotch whiskey. This is a meditative wine for the end of a meal.
Vin de France
Grapes: Old interplanted vines (Grenache gris, Carignan blanc, Macabeu etc)
Soil: Agly valley, black schist
How we make it: The grapes are picked overripe in late November, direct pressed, and barrel fermented. Fermentation is naturally stopped at 40 grams of residual sugar, and the wine is barrel aged outdoors for eight years.
N°4 :
This Rivesaltes is aged for nineteen years on old wine lees, in barrels that once belonged to our grandfather Fernand Cadène. It is exceptionally elegant, with controlled power and volume in the mouth, and full of character. Savor it at the end of a meal with a strong Roquefort or soft foie gras.
AOP Rivesaltes hors d’âge 1998
Grapes: Old interplanted vines (Grenache gris and noir, Carignan, Macabeu and others)
Soil: Clay and sand, Canet-en-Roussillon, close to the Mediterranean
How we make it: This fortified wine is barrel aged in the barn for nineteen years. Temperature changes significantly affect its oxidation.
