THE VINEYARD
Geographical location : 3
km from Pezenas (Herault), on the slopes leading to the first ridges
of the Cévennes Mountains.
Appellation : Coteaux du Languedoc.
Surface Area
: 31ha in production; 4 ha in plantation.
Orientation : All slopes have south
or south-westerly exposure.
Soil : Arid and stony, limestone
and calcareous clay of the Villafranchien, basalt, clayey sandstone (sandstones
and quartz pebbles), silicious clay(marble).
Specificity : Very parcelled
out vineyard (28 pieces), with vines sometimes far from the estate,
as only the best soils were retained.
THE CULTIVATION
Principal
red grape-varieties : Syrah, grenache, mourvèdre, plus what
creates the Bebian distinction: a large plot planted "en foule"
with 13 grape-varieties of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Average age of the vines :
25 years, but 3 hectares of grenache were planted in 1925.
Origin of the vines : Mainly
by visual selection of the most robust vines, the syrah from Chave
(Hermitage), the grenache and 13 grape-varieties from Chateau Rayas in
Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the mourvedre from the Tempier domain at Bandol.
We continue this policy and have just replanted almost 2 ha of syrah from
Chateauneuf Beaucastel in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region.
Density
: 5000/6250 vines/ha, which is the maximum density in Languedoc.
Pruning
: as short as possible.
Fertilizer
: none, unless necessary. When needed, use of organic manure
(no artificial fertilizers).
Crop treatment
: According to the so-called 'lutte raisonnée' method. No pesticides,
insecticides or weeding systems are used.
Yield
: 25 hl/ha (more than half the authorized volume in the AOC 'Coteaux
du Languedoc').
THE HARVEST
Date
: Grapes are picked when over matured; 10-15 days after the official start
date of harvest.
Collecting
: To respect the quality of the fruit, each bunch is hand-picked and packed 20 kg to a crate. An initial selection is done at the vine, and a second one at the sorting table before putting the grapes into fermenting tanks.
Destemming
: 100% of the syrah and 50% of the grenache varieties are destemmed. The other varieties are not destemmed.
