wines of carcassonne the cabardes aoc

8/8/2019 Wines of Carcassonne the Cabardes AOC

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Wines of CarcassonneThe Cabardès AOC

by Ryan O’Connell

Copyright © 2010 Ryan O’Connell

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1456482823ISBN-13: 978-1456482824



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Fortress walls of the Cité and its surrounding vineyards - Albert Robida 1917

Wines of Cabardès

“Passing out of the two circles of walls, I treated myself, in the most infatuatedmanner, to another walk round the Cité. It is certainly this generalimpression that is most striking--the impression from outside, where thewhole place detaches itself at once from the landscape. In the warm southerndusk it looked more than ever like a city in a fairy-tale. To make the thingperfect, a white young moon, in its first quarter, came out and hung just overthe dark silhouette. It was hard to come away--to incommode one's self foranything so vulgar as a railway train; I would gladly have spent the eveningin revolving round the walls of Carcassonne.”

-- Henry James, 1884

Perhaps the simplest way to conceive of the AOC Cabardès is as Henry E. Teitelbaum put it in his May2007 Wall Street Journal article:

"Cabardès is a tiny collection of villages northof the medieval walled city of Carcassonne."

Or we could think of the Cabardès as France's first appellation where the great grape varieties of both Bordeaux and the Rhone are married together to create rich Mediterranean wines with a cool,freshness about them.



The area’s unique climatic conditions - exposure to both Atlantic maritime and Mediterraneaninfluences – allows Cabardès wines to blend these two great families of grapes together to create adistinctive assemblage that is expressly forbidden in every other wine region of France.1

The appellation is small. A mere 550 hectares of vines span across eighteen villages. This is asliver of vines in comparison to Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s 3200 hectares or the 15,000 hectares planted inthe Corbières. Indeed, the majority of our wines could be enjoyed over cassoulet within the fortress

walls of the Cité de Carcassonne - a UNESCO World Heritage Site visited by millions each year.

With less than 30 producers, the Cabardès never had enough industrial production to warrant anInternational marketing campaign. Our small size and unique encepagement have lead to this veryinteresting area being overlooked and not widely understood.

The following is a collection of reference materials andessays that look at the appellation’s links toCarcassonne, our leading wine producers, historicattractions, and some of the internal differences inclimate and soils within the area. Hopefully, this text

will contribute to the overall awareness of our beautiful and historic wine culture.

This paper is intended for both visitors exploring thearea as well as those from afar who are simply curious

to know more. Either way, I hope that reading about our sun-drenched vineyards, our secret underground passage ways, and our well-worn castle walls will inspire you to dream of Carcassonne.

Enjoy !!

Ryan O'Connell December 2010

O’Vineyards885 Avenue de la Montagne Noire11620 [email protected] 33 6 30 18 99 10

1As of 2003 AOC Limoux Rouge and AOC Malepère, two appellations directly south of Carcassonne, may

also blend these grapes. Malepère wines tend to rely on the Atlantic grapes and do not require the blend.Limoux wines, which are predominantly white, only require the blend in their red wines. These twoneighbors, along with the Cabardès, form an Atlantic corridor of the Languedoc. The Atlantic Corridor is theonly region in France allowing these blends.

“The inhabitants were acquaintedwith a secret passage by whichthey could escape from the town;it was a subterranean passageleading from Carcassonne toCabardès.”

--The Saturday Magazine, 1837

View of Carcassonne and the foothillsof the Pyrenees from O’Vineyards, Villemoustaussou – Photo by Noraa



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Table of Contents

Brief History .............................................................................................................................................. 5

Terroir ........................................................................................................................................................ 6

Map of Terroir .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Directory of Wineries............................................................................................................................... 10Domaine O’Vineyards ..................................................................................................................... 10Domaine de Cabrol .......................................................................................................................... 10Château Ventenac............................................................................................................................. 11Château de Brau................................................................................................................................ 11Château Pennautier........................................................................................................................... 12Château de Jouclary.......................................................................................................................... 12Domaine Escourrou......................................................................................................................... 13Domaine Taluos................................................................................................................................ 13Château Sescquières ......................................................................................................................... 14Font Juvenal ...................................................................................................................................... 14Domaine de Cazaban....................................................................................................................... 14Domaine Ventaillole......................................................................................................................... 15Château Salitis ................................................................................................................................... 15La Bastide Rougepeyre..................................................................................................................... 15Château Rayssac................................................................................................................................ 16Château Peche Rosié ........................................................................................................................ 16Château de Donjon .......................................................................................................................... 16Château Parazols-Bertrou................................................................................................................ 16Château Auzias- Paretlongue.......................................................................................................... 17Château Bournonville....................................................................................................................... 17Domaine Loupia............................................................................................................................... 17Others................................................................................................................................................. 18

My Personal Take ..................................................................................................................................... 19Further Reading ........................................................................................................................................ 23

Thanks and Attribution ........................................................................................................................... 24



Brief History

The Cabardès name first appears in 11th Century texts in reference to the fiefdom of the Lords of Cabaret, north of Carcassonne. While the area produced wines long before that, it was in the medieval period that the Cabardès came to be seen as aparish of Carcassonne.

Over the years, the Lords of Cabaret built an

impressive group of fortifications in the villageof Lastours. The ruins of their four greatest castles still stand on the hills overlooking Lastours today.

The area’s primary income in the medieval period was its rich mineral deposits, namely iron mines inthe northern Cabardès. These ores made the Cabardès a good ally to the trading town of Carcassonne.

You can find many references to the Cabardès and the fortifications in Lastours in the few texts still inexistence recounting the Catholic Church’s crusade against the Cathare Knights.

In the memoires of Peter of Vaux de Cernay, he recounts how God protected the French Catholics who had descended on the Cabardès to tear out its vines during a siege:

“Il advint un jour auprès de Cabaret un miracle que nous croyons devoirrapporter. Les pélerins venus de France arrachaient les vignes de Cabaret,suivant l'ordre du comte, lorsqu'un des ennemis, lançant d'un jet de balisteune flèche contre l'un des nôtres, le frappa violemment à la poitrine dansl'endroit où était placé le signe de la croix.”2

And other passages brag about how warriors would harvest grapes right under the nose of theirenemies:

“Et même que nos fantassins vendangeaient chaque jour, car c’était letemps des vendanges, les vignes plantées près de l’armée ennemie, sousses yeux et a son grand regret.”3

In short, the grapevine is interwoven in the long, long history of the Cabardès.

2Collection des mémoires relatifs à l’histoire de France: depuis la fondation de la monarchie française

jusqu’au 13eme siècle. Guizot, François M. 1824. mémoires de Peter of Vaux de Cernay. p. 903

Ibid. p. 164

“Alors, selon Catel, furent batis le château deCarcassonne, et dans le Cabardès quelquesforteresses qui borderent la Septimanie pour

la défendre.”--Etude sur l’histoire de Bordeaux, 1835



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Terroir

The Mediterranean coast of France is a region with an immense geological diversity, sheared apart andcleaved together by millennia of tectonic plate movements. And the Cabardès sits at the fringe of theMediterranean basin with some of the most diverse geology of all, where quaternary terraceshave run up against the siliceous formations of La Montagne Noire.

The flora is dominated by the garrigue andcypress trees, small thick underbrush that cansurvive the extreme wind and sun. The geology of the area is overall defined by deep clay withlimestone or chalk on the surface.However, despite the Cabardès’ small size, the unique geology and climate of the area create four relatively distinct zones within the appellation.

Haut Cabardès

The simplest zone to identify is the Haut Cabardès. The villages of the Haut Cabardès are the farthest north in theappellation and the closest to La Montagne Noire. They benefit from higher elevation and laterharvests. While the entire Cabardès is defined by clay and limestone, vineyards in the Haut Cabardèsare often also littered with deposits of slate and gneiss.4 In geological terms, the Haut Cabardèsresembles parts of the Minervois which also sit on the south-facing slopes of La Montagne Noire.

Although the Cabardès weather will be much cooler and there will be slightly more rain in the winter.

4 I should stress that these groupings are not definitive. Because of the tumultuous geological historyof the Cabardès, the soil composition of our vineyards can be downright confounding. For example, I

kept finding fossilized sea shells mixed in with the more standard mountain stones while visiting Domaine de Cabrol’s highest parcels above Aragon in what I consider to be the Haut Cabardès (300+meters above sea level).

Les Châteaux de Lastours in The Haut Cabardès, Lastours – Photo by Kurtsik

“Peu de pluies au sud de la Montagne [Noire],sur le Cabardès ajusté, par son extrémité sud,aux très lumineuses plaines du Carcassés oupays de Carcassonne, qui n’est qu’un vignobleimmense où le vert des pampres attendrit uneterre grise”

--Onésime Reclus, 1899, Le plus beau royaume sous le ciel

“Alors, selon Catel, furent batis le château deCarcassonne, et dans le Cabardès quelquesforteresses qui borderent la Septimanie pour

la défendre.”--Etude sur l’histoire de Bordeaux, 1835



The Calcaires: Marl-Cabardès and Redstone-Cabardès

As you move south and west, the land drops and sees more rain during the winter. While winter rainshave a minimal effect on each harvest, they have a large effect over time on the soil composition. Clayexpands and contracts with rainfall and evaporation. This expansion and contraction breaks down thesedimentary rocks in the soil (namely limestone) into smaller pieces.

The area south of the Haut Cabardès prominently features soils that span between calcerous soil and

red clay. The common wisdom amongst the winemakers of the Cabardès says that Ventenac’s terroir isa shallower, chalky soil closer to marl, half limestone and half clay, while the deeper soils aroundMontolieu lean more toward red clay.

That said, you can definitely find a mixture of limestone,marl and clay on the slopes in both of these areas, but the features that we as winemakers try to accentuate inour wines go a long way toward defining the typicity of our terroir. So, on the coteaux around Montolieu, you’ll find winemakers who tend to focus on red clay. On thecoteaux around Ventenac, you’ll find winemakers whotend to fixate on the chalky limestone qualities of their

terroir.

Furthermore, Ventenac and the area I’m calling Marl-Cabardès has a slightly more Mediterranean climatecharacterized by warmer springs, hotter summers andless rainfall. Montolieu and the area I’m describing as

Redstone-Cabardès is going to be a little more Atlantic in its climate, experiencing cooler spring temperatures, slightly more winter rains, but having lower relative humidity in the spring and summer.

Some winemakers find that the Marl-Cabardès is prone to creating more Mediterranean-styled wines while Redstone-Cabardès offers Atlantic-styled wines. Note that winemakers in both areas can andmust grow both families of varietals. However the Syrahs and Grenaches of the Redstone-Cabardès

(western and more atlantic) tend to have an uncanny freshness while the Merlots and Cabernets of theMarl-Cabardès are unusually rich and ripe. When it comes time to blend, the characteristics of onefamily of grapes can easily get the upper hand.

Redstone-Cabardès of Château Sesquières, route de Montolieu

Marl Cabardès of Domaine Taluos, Ventenac



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Canal du Midi-Cabardès

The last group of villages is the farthest south inthe appellation and it follows the path of the Canal du Midi, spanning from Alzonne in the west to

Villedubert in the east. This is the longest of theswaths I’m describing and it might be the most eclectic, although I should remind you that I amonly describing a stretch of land that is about 15miles long.

The soil in the Canal du Midi-Cabardès is alsolimestone-rich although some parcels appear to be

pure mudstone because the limestone has been completely dissolved into the clay. Even the muddiest soils will have very high levels of limestone and they keep cooler than typical mudstone. It’s interesting to note the number of people who are beginning to cultivate truffles in the area since the land that isslightly too humid for good vineyards is often ideal for the truffles that grow in the roots of oak trees.

Like in the Marl- and Redstone-Cabardès, the vineyards further west tend to have slightly more Atlanticclimate (cooler springs, rainy winters) while the eastern vineyards feature more Mediterranean climate(warmer springs, longer summers).

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that many estates (like my own) sit near the boundary between two of these climactic zones. It’s not unusual for a vineyard to have a parcel dominated by limestone just beside a parcel that looks like pure mudstone. And vintages can be more Atlantic-influenced or moreMediterranean. Don’t worry about memorizing all this information and isolating it to the zones I’vedescribed. This section is more to familiarize you with our climactic influences and the four distinct types of land that appear in the Cabardès so that you may recognize traces of each terroir as you tasteour wines or visit our vineyards.

Canal du Midi-Cabardès of O’Vineyards, Villemoustaussou

Vines beside le premier pont du Canal du Midi, Paraza – photo by Jean Luc RENAUT



Terroir Map – interactive online map: http://bit.ly/cabardes

Redstone-Cabardès :1 Sesquieres2 Pech Rosié

Haut Cabardès :3 Bancalis4 Cabrol5 Font Juvenal

Marlstone-Cabardès :6 Caunettes Hautes7 Mourviels8 Bournonville9 Escourrou (Regalona)10 Ventenac (Maurel)11 Ventaillole12 Loupia

Marlstone-Cabardès continued13 La Bastide:14 Cazaban15 Salitis16 Rayssac17 Jouclary 18 Parazols

Canal du Midi-Cabardès :19 Cotes du Trapel20 O’Vineyards21 Brau22 Pennautier23 Auzias24 Rivals25 La Mijeanne

Note : Some of the wineries are not shown on the map despite theirability to produce excellent wines. Their locations far from their vinesin the aire (outskirts) of the Cabardès create a confusing image. Alsonote that the empty portions of the map are often cultivated by cooperative winemakers. Future editions will try to map these grape-growers too, as I have done with Bancalis and Rivals.

Also, two new producers are entering the scene as I write thisdocument, Taluos near Ventenac and Lalande near Pennautier.



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Domaine de Cabrol,300 m above sea level

Winery Directory

Domaine O’Vineyards www.ovineyards.com N: 43°259622 E: 2°340387

885 Avenue de la Montagne Noire11620 Villemoustaussou33 (0)6 30 18 99 [email protected]

Our Cabardès:

• Proprietor’s Reserve

• Les Américains

The O’Connell family only arrived in theCabardès in 2005, but they are proud of their

efforts in the exploration of this rich and intricate terroir. The family lives on the 15 hectares vineyard and welcomes guests to come and taste in the winery which is dug into the south-facing slope of La Montagne Noire. O’Vineyards is also notable for its online efforts such as

www.love-that-languedoc.com and this very e-book.

Domaine de Cabrol www.domainedecabrol.fr N: 43°3103630 E: 2°330832111600 Aragon33 (0)4 68 77 19 06

[email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Vent d’Est

• Vent d’Ouest

• Réquieu

• La Dérive

• Blue Note

Claude Carayol, former President of the

Cabardès, owns and operates the Domaine deCabrol in the foothills above Aragon. This is thenorthern-most winery in the Cabardès, and it features some of the highest parcels in theappellation (~300 meters above sea level).

I previously mentionedthese limestone soils arestill littered with fossilizedmollusks and otherseashells, a reminder of

the marine origin of thelimestone.

O’Vineyards Merlot, Villemoustaussou



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Château Pennautier

Château Pennautier www.lorgeril.com N: 43°244304 E: 2°317294

BP4 11610 Pennautier33 (0)4 68 72 65 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• L’Esprit de Pennautier

• Château de Pennautier

Nicolas andMiren de Lorgeril are the largest

producers of Cabardès wine.The de Lorgeril family produces

wines in Cabardès, St Chinian, Faugeres, Minervois, Minervois la Liviniere, and Cotes duRoussillon Villages. But the heart of Lorgeril wines is the beautiful Château Pennautier locatedin the Cabardès. Sometimes called the “Versailles of the south”, the Château welcomes gueststo its restaurant, tasting room and wine bar.

Château de Jouclary www.chateaujouclary.over-blog.com/ N: 43°273086 E: 2°370659Route de Villegailhenc D3511600 Conques sur Orbiel 33 (0)4 68 77 10 02

[email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Tradition

• Les Amandiers

• Cuvée Guillaume de Jouclary

Robert Gianesini is not only the current President of the Cabardès appellation; he was one of the five founding members. He’s just a bit north of us, and we often compare notes ontreatments and cultivation at the end of the season. Young Pascal Gianesini is assuming moreand more responsibility at the estate and is becoming the International face of Château de

Jouclary.

Château de Jouclary, Villegailhenc



Domaine Escourrouregalona.fr N: 43°256956 E: 2°29202306 Avenue de La Viale11610 Ventenac-Cabardès33 (0)4 68 24 92 30

Their Cabardès:

• La Régalona

As an ambitious young man, Arnaud Escourrou would work half the year on his family’sDomaine Escourrou and the other half of the year in South American estates. Nowadays,

Arnaud’s domaine has become synonymous with his top cuvee, La Regalona. And he’s startedup his own estate in Chile so there is a Regalona in each hemisphere. Arnaud also engages in abit of experimentation like planting some parcels more densely (6500 plants/hectare).

Domaine Taluos Ventenac Cabardès06 86 49 84 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Petit Taluos

• Taluos

The newest addition to the Cabardès winemakers, EricSoulat has taken over 2 and some hectares outside of

Ventenac. I have not tasted any of the 2009’s yet, but the cultivation and vinification are handled by ArnaudEscourrou mentioned above, and I’m certain they will be interesting.

Above: Young graft atDomaine Escourrou

Left: Low Grenahce atDomaine Escourrou

Domaine Taluos near Ventenac-Cabardès



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Marl-Cabardès of Château Sesquières

Château Sesquières N: 43°288642 E: 2°188025Route de Montolieu11170 Alzonne 04 68 76 00 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Prestige

• Le Chêne

The winery is in an old stables fromthe 1800’s and the vines belonged tothe Abbey of Longueville in the1700’s. Sesquières is the farthest

west independent producer in theCabardès.

Prieuré du Font Juvenal http://www.font-juvenal.com N: 43°297854 E: 2°34253411600 Conques sur Orbiel Tél : 04 68 79 15 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Le Sauvage

• L'Asphodèle• Jeanne

Georges and Colette Casadesus own and operate Pépinières Casadesus, a successful plant nursery. They came to the Cabardès five or six years before my family with the goal of making exceptional wines in the heights of the Haut Cabardès. The couple is very devoted to the winesalon circuit so I recommend contacting them long ahead of time to be sure of a guided visit of their sprawling hilltop estate.

Domaine de Cazaban

www.domainedecazaban.com/ N: 43°285485 E: 2°35371411600 Villegailhenc33 (0)4 68 72 11 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Demoiselle Claire

• Domaine de Cazaban

Clément and Claire Mingus are someof the most recently installed winemakers in the Cabardès. They took over a mere 5 hectares of Merlot and Syrah, and built an impressive winery and gites around the vines which are noworganic-certified.

Harvest at Domaine Cazaban

Font Juvenal’srows curve

along thehillside above

Ara on



The owners of Château Salitis, AnneMarandon-Maurel and Fréderic Maurel, tendto about a hundred hectares of vines onrelatively calcerous soil. Fréderic is a journalist for the local paper dealing with agriculture andhe seems very involved in the CIVL, theregional Interprofessional group. They also

have a Viognier that’s worth mentioning (although there are no white Cabardès).

The old fortified Bastide, Pennautier

Château Ventaillole www.domaine-ventaillole.fr N: 43°280147 E: 2°293728

11610 Ventenac Cabardè[email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Château Ventaillole

Château Ventaillole is one of the few wineries within the appellation that still uses Fer Servadou, a varietal more common to the Gaillac region.The Château is also notable for its

homemade labels which are made out of recycled grape stems.

Château SalitisNo websiteN: 43°284262 E: 2°37381704 68 77 16 10

Their Cabardès:

• Cuvée des Dieux

• Cuvée Premium• Cuvée Rouge Cabardès

Château la Bastide Rougepeyrehttp://www.rougepeyre.com/ N: 43°273638 E: 2°32744911610 ¨Pennautier04 68 72 51 91

Their Cabardès:• Classique Rouge

• Prestige Rouge

• L’Esprit Rouge

La Bastide is an old fortified farm that used to be a fief or subject of the Lords of Cabaret. It isnow owned by Dominique and Christiane de Lorgeril (sibling of the de Lorgeril that owns andoperates Château Pennautier).

A horse works the land at Château Ventaillole



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Château Rayssac www.chateau-rayssac.com N: 43°286861 E: 2°38987811600 Conques sur Orbiel

04 68 71 62 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Château Rayssac Cabardès

Château Rayssac’s 27 hectares of vineshave just changed hands in 2010. MarcDelsuc, the new owner, says theproperty will maintain its Cabardès

cuvees without major alterations.

Château Pech Rosié www.domainedeshoms.com/ SCEA Domaine du Petit Paradis11170 Montolieu04 68 78 10 [email protected]

Their Cabardès :

• Château Pech Rosié Cabardès

Château Parazols-Bertrouhttp://parazols-bertrou.com/ 11600 Bagnoles04 68 77 06 46

Their Cabardès:

• Ni Ange Ni Demon

Château du Donjon www.chateau-du-donjon.com Tél : 04 68 77 18 33

Their Cabardès:

• L’Autre

Although my favorite wines from Jean-Marc de Crozalsbelong to Domaine des Homs, his Minervois estate, theChâteau Pech Rosié Cabardès has a certain lightness inthe way it presents its fruit which I don’t get from thedeeper wines in his Minervois collection. An interesting example of how a winemaker crafts two different cuveesfrom two different terroirs. And all of them are worth aa e.

This is another producer who concentrates on Minervois, but alsomakes interesting Cabardès wines. Winemakers who span acrosstwo appellations often have a more instinctive appreciation for thequalities that make the AOC unique from its neighbors. Donjon’s

vines are in the eastern more Mediterranean-influenced Cabardès,but the winemaker still notes that they are a much more oceanicclimate than his Minervois.

Jean Marie Bertrou is yet another Minervois producer,but I think he focuses on Cabardès. He has a verypopular Cabardès wine called Ni Ange Ni Demon, andis engaged in a legal battle to keep that wine label afterreceiving an injunction from Givenchy who have atrademark for their “Ange ou Demon” perfumes.

Château Rayssac



Château Auzias-Paretlonguehttp://www.auzias.fr/ N: 43°236293 E: 2°33270611610 Pennautier04 68 47 28 28

[email protected]

Their Cabardès:

• Cuvée Petits Messieurs

The Abbaye de Paretlongui is cited in 12th Century texts andthe lands around the abbey have been producing wine forabout that long. Château Paretlongue now hyphenates itsname to include Auzias, the founder of Le Petit Futé, apopular series of French-language guide books. They also

have a twin vineyard in China called

Château Reifeng Auzias Shandong.They’re definitely one of the moreadventurous estates in theappellation, often tapping intomarkets in Russia and China.They’re also one of the largerproperties working on 70 hectaresplanted.

Domaine Loupia

www.domaineloupia.com N: 43°264675 E: 2°3015511610 Pennautier04 68 24 91 [email protected]

Their Cabardès :

• Cabardès Domaine

• Cabardès Tradition

• Cabardès Hautes Pierres

Nathalie & Philippe Pons oversee this property of 10 and a half hectares. They have been working organically since 1974! They also help to organize the Cabardieses, an annual pianoconcert in the vineyards of Cabardès.

Château Bournonville www.chateaubournonville.com N: 43°270128 E: 2°265801Caunettes Basses11170 Moussoulens04 68 24 86 [email protected]

Their Cabardès:• Nova Stella

• Inoubliable

• Violine

An old 1930s winery partially built out of the Ventenaclimestone that characterizes the region’s soil

Château Auzias’ soil rangesfrom redstone (above)

to more calcerous (right)

Domaine Loupia



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Estates not mentioned in this index:

Domaine Guilhem BarréI just discovered this estate online while researching a topic totally unrelated to the Cabardes. Idon’t know anything about them, but will be in contact soon.

Château Lalande Lalande is a recently approved Cabardès producer who I believe just had some of his vinesclassified by the INAO. I’m not sure what their Cabardès range will be like.

Château la MijeanneThis estate is in succession after a loss in the family.

Château MourvielsI think this is an independent producer who manages to sell virtually all their wine by export.They don’t participate much in the local meetings, so I don’t know their product. But they areclearly doing a good thing for the Cabardès by getting bottles of wine with the appellation name

into foreign markets.

Domaine de RivalsThis is a family of cooperative grape growers who I see more and more of lately. I think theyintend to start bottling a small amount of Cabardès in their own winery.

Château de CaunettesThis is a beautiful property that belongs to the de Lorgeril family of Château Pennautier. The

wine is best found by contacting Château Pennautier.

Caunettes Hautes

I don’t know much about Caunettes Hautes. I think this is a grape grower who doesn’t havehis own bottles. But I’ll continue to pursue this for future editions.

Our cooperativesFuture editions will also endeavor to include more information on our cooperative growers.They weren’t included in this first edition because it is a lot of work to track down individual growers and they actually produce a relatively small amount of Cabardès.



My Personal TakeCarcassonne is a Frontier

An incredible number of cultures have drawn a line on their maps crossing through this area.Even before the citadel’s medieval fortifications were built, the area around Carcassonne had

already been a boundary for the Romans, the Francs, the Visigoths, the Catalan, and many,many more.

Carcassonne’s history, its culture, and its wines are defined by the long, persistent exchangebetween all the different peoples who have treated this place as a frontier. Carcassonne is theboundary between two lands. Any exploration of the wines of Carcassonne must take thischaracteristic into account, for this boundary goes beyond politics.

Different geological formations and climactic zones also converge around Carcassonne. Everytime I watch the weather report, it seems that even the skies have split above us, like a fairy tale

where the eastern Aquitaine winds and the warm Mediterranean weather, politely agreed tomeet over La Cité and my vineyard.

Duality is the backbone of Carcassonne.So as I share my thoughts, I’ll propose a few metaphors to define the wines of Carcassonne.

And I don’t want you to take any single metaphor as a definitive answer. I hope that you’ll make room in your mind for all of them and let the various descriptions mingle and exchangeparts.

And somewhere in these pages, I hope you feel the growing urge to discover the wines foryourself. Because that is the enchanting power of Carcassonne. It draws people in from all around the world and it changes them.

La Cité de Carcassonne seen from a nearby vineyard – Photo by Bernard Mestre for IGP Cité de Carcassonne

Carcassonne is the end of the MediterraneanRiding the train from the Mediterranean coast to Carcassonne, you will find vines as far as youcan see. The rich diversity of rocky soils provides a wonderful landscape of scrubland, grape

vines and olive trees. You’ll occasionally see deciduous plants like the Plane trees that line theCanal du Midi, but for the most part, the sun-drenched stones of the Mediterranean fields arereserved for plants like grape vines that can thrive in soils that could never foster corn or wheat.

Then a funny thing happens after you leave the area around Carcassonne. The soil starts tochange, and somewhere between Carcassonne and Bram, the vines winnow out to be replacedby rich fields full of crops that like a more fertile soil than vines and olive trees require. AndI’m not the first American to make this remark. In 1787 Thomas Jefferson cruised along the

Canal du Midi and noted the shift between Carcassonne and Castelnaudary where the soil became richer and was used more for corn than vines.



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So what does it mean to be Mediterranean? It means that our wine culture is deeply rooted inMediterranean traditions. Old Grenache, Cinsaut, Mourvedre, Carignan, and Syrah grow inshort, uneven rows on the elevated plateaus overlooking la Cité de Carcassonne. With theseMediterranean varietals, we craft wines with richness, spice, and ripeness that are unmistakablyproduced in a warm, Mediterranean climate. We recognize basic similarities with terroirs of theRhone and small vineyards that stipple the coastline of the Languedoc-Roussillon originally

planted by the Ancient Greeks. Given this rich history, it would be absurd to talk about the wines of Carcassonne without referencing this awe-inspiring cultural heritage which clearlyinfluences our winemaking.

Carcassonne is the beginning of the Aquitaine

From another perspective, the wines of Carcassonne are the beginning of the Aquitaine, homeof austere Bordeaux wines. Admittedly, there is an entire region (the Midi-Pyrénées) in betweenthe Languedoc-Roussillon and the Aquitaine, but today’s definition of the Midi was designed bypoliticians and not winemakers.

As recently as 1883, descriptions of the Carcassez (a specific area surrounding Carcassonne)describe it as “the part of the Aquitaine that resides in the Mediterranean basin.” 6 And asTeitelbaum reminds us in his Wall Street Journal article, “by road, the wine-producing areas of Languedoc and Bordeaux are separated by no more than a few hours drive."

Bordeaux is stylistically and climatologically much closer to the wines of Carcassonne than anyother appellation I’ve tasted in France. They’re far from identical, but there’s an undeniablecorrelation

Compared to the rest of the Mediterranean basin, our winters tend to be wetter, our springs alittle cooler, and our summers are a little drier. We have cooler nights and drier Atlantic windslike the Vent Cers which distinguish us significantly from the bulk of the Mediterranean basin.

While we share the Languedoc’s sunshine and its soil, we are not subject to its warm humidnights. And even in years like 2010 which showed a surprising prevalence of the more humidVent Marin in my area, we still reach phenolic maturity at slightly lower sugar levels. Thecomplaint of many winemakers in the Mediterranean is that the region has trouble getting grapes like Merlot to real ripeness (phenolic presentation) until they’re showing very highpotential alcohol levels. However, thanks to the cool nights vines around Carcassonne don’t ripen quite as quickly toward the end of summer.

That said, we are not truly Aquitaine either. Vines still do get a lot of sunshine and refreshing winds won’t totally halt the effects of the summer sun. Instead the winds and sun findequilibrium. We really have a unique combination of climate, altitude, and hydrometry that is at once not totally Languedoc nor typically Bordeaux.

Carcassonne is the Wild Wild West

Carcassonne and its surrounding Carcassez7 is sort of the last stop before leaving the vine-growing part of the Mediterranean. It is the Wild West of southern French wines: beautiful,untamed and--at times--lawless.

6 “C’est la partie de l’Aquitaine qui appartient, par l’Aude au bassin hydrographique de la

Méditerranée.” Société Ramond, Bagneres de Bigorre. 1883. Explorations pyrénéenes : Ascensionset recherches scientifiques, archéologiques et historiques volume 18-19

7I’m bringing Carcassez back. It’s an old term to describe the parish around Carcassonne (based on

who tithed to the bishop in Carcassonne) and it fell out of use to be replaced with cantons,agglomerations, departments, etc.



This is one of the more fanciful metaphors I’ll force you to read, but I think there’s some real sense to it. When I say that the wines of Carcassonne feel a little bit lawless, I mean that wehave a sort of reckless disregard for the social conventions of Old World winemakers.

For one thing, we include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in a Mediterranean Appellation d’Origine. Basically, that just isn’t done. The Languedoc produces Grenache andother old Mediterranean varietals, and prestigious winemakers in the region tend to scoff at the

idea of planting “Bordeaux varietals” in such a warm climate with very little annual rainfall.Hopefully, by now I’ve convinced you that we’ve got our reasoning. But the very fact that weembrace these varietals makes us seem a little like the wild and independent protagonists of spaghetti westerns.

Furthermore, my Appellation actually mandates us to blend Atlantic varietals like Merlot andCab with Mediterranean varietals like Syrah and Grenache. Cats and dogs living together! Thissort of blend is widely found on International markets but I think only two appellations in all of France actually permit it. So again, we do things which can seem slightly crazy to the rest of theestablished Old World of winemaking.

And finally, Carcassonne is the Wild West because there is an amazing opportunity out here.

Like our romanticized images of the Gold Rush, the area around Carcassonne offers a vast reservoir of untapped potential. The area hasn’t been developed in the same way as the small crus close to the coast like La Clape, La Liviniere, and the various sub appellations of theCoteaux du Languedoc. There is a lot of work to be done here and you can still make yourname if you’re willing to work tirelessly and risk everything. That’s a cowboy trope, right?

Carcassonne is a castle

For many people, Carcassonne is defined by la Cité de Carcassonne. Millions come to visit every year. Each year, la Cité and le Mont St. Michel compete over which site is the most

visited town in France outside of Paris. And with good reason!

La Cité de Carcassonne is not just a building where you park and go inside. It is a monument

that can be seem from miles and miles around in every direction. Hundreds of people actuallylive inside those medieval ramparts. Every morning, the streets are buzzing with deliveries of



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wine, charcuterie, bread, and all the products needed to maintain the small village that exists within its walls.

It is the fanciful fairy tale that inspired Walt Disney’s castles, Snow White’s Castle in particular. And it is simultaneously a very real and immutable façade that looks the same today as it did when Henry James photographed it over a century ago.

And so it seems natural that the wines of Carcassonne would be defined by the castle. At onepoint that was literally the definition! Not long ago, the vineyards producing “Vins de Pays desCoteaux de la Cité de Carcassonne” had to be able to see the Cité from the estate. Thedefinition has since lost some romance as it is now a simple list of villages that touch the borderof Carcassonne, but almost all of our producers still have a view on those fantastic ramparts!

And while this requirement seems quaint at first, I think it’s a large part of what we are.

The entire production of our wines could be consumed over cassoulet within those Cité walls. And somewhere in the back of my mind I think that the local winemakers have often been sobusy defending the ramparts that they never took the time to defend their reputation. Our

wines are equal to those ramparts and I hope you’ll agree to discover them all at once shouldyou ever visit the south of France.

Carcassonne is an exploration

Perhaps more than all things, Carcassonne is an exploration. While every sip of our wines andeach glance at those castle walls feels like it could last forever, I know deep down that this is aregion that is constantly growing and building. Nothing happens overnight. The castle, theCanal, the Ville Basse, the people, the culture, and all the rest took millennia to get where theyare today. And every year, new stories will take place in Carcassonne: first loves, tragic losses,legendary wines…

In many ways, I’m projecting onto the castle. As a young winemaker in an exciting region, I

hope that every year brings new lessons and new chapters in the story of my wine and the storyof my life. And Carcassonne is the most beautiful setting I could have chosen for these stories.

May we explore Carcassonne, its wines and its walls, for generations to come!

Thanks for reading!!



Further Reading

INAO Cabardès Rules

Décret du 12 février 1999 relatif à l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Cabardès » - J.O n°

39 du 16 Février 1999

http://www.inao.gouv.fr/public/produits/showTexte.php?id_txt=402

Décret n° 2009-1338 du 28 octobre 2009 relatif aux appellations d'origine contrôlées «Collioure », « Fitou », « Côtes du Roussillon », « Côtes du Roussillon Villages », «Malepère », « Cabardès », « Clairette de Bellegarde » et « Clairette du Languedoc » et « Saint-Chinian » NOR: AGRT0919706D

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000021214105&dat

eTexte=vig#LEGIARTI000021231261

Websites

Vins Cité de Carcassonne official website http://www.vins-citedecarcassonne.com/

Cabardes website http://cabardes.free.fr/

These reference works and guides include information about the appellation along with

general information about weather, geology, and how everything relates to wine (concepts that Isort of glossed over in this text).

Auzias, Decroix, Tarbouriech, & Finch. Le Petit Futé Aude 2010 Nouvelles Editions del'Université ISBN-10: 274692434X

Jefford, Andrew. The New France. 2002. MITCH. ISBN 1-84000-410-X

Joseph, Robert. French Wines, 2005. Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 1-4053-1212-2

Johnson, Hugh; Robinson, Jancis (2007). The World Atlas of Wine (6th edition ed.).

ISBN 1845333012.

Robinson, Jancis, ed (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd edition ed.). OxfordUniversity Press. ISBN 0198609906

Teitelbaum, Henry E. In France's Cabardès, Bordeaux meets Languedoc May 25, 2007The Wall Street Journal Europe



Thanks & Attribution

Special thanks to all of the winemakers in the AOC Cabardes and IGP Carcassonne forcooperating with me as I stumbled through this first book.

Unless explicitly stated in the caption, all photos were contributed by the winemakers, ODGCabardes, or le Syndicat des Vins de la Cité de Carcassonne IGP.

This book would be impossible without your friendship.

And the biggest thanks to Rob D from La Peira. He convinced me that I was the person whocould write this book in the first place. I guess the next one should be on Terrasses du Larzac.

wines of carcassonne the cabardes aoc

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