Their wish is to work plots with the highest quality potential to develop the wine in the least interventionist way possible in reasoned agriculture.
The Manoir des Schistes is a small family estate of 4 ha of black Grenache located on a mound of deep black shale, located 350 meters above sea level in the production area of Maury, northwest of Perpignan. The vines are located in the valley of Agly which extends from the Pyrenees to the sea. This estate consists of vineyards that were part of larger farms whose grapes were intended for the cooperative.
During the difficult times of the Middle Ages, not sure, the merchants were the target of attacks by highway robbers. To go down the valley of the Agly they took paths on the edge of the mountain, steeper than the main road, but less dangerous for their goods and for them. To find it in these trails, their plot, overlooking the path, served as a reference. She was their secret.
Their vines “have no age”: they were already planted during the creation of the viticultural land registry in the area, they are over 90 years old. The yield is low, three to six feet of vines are needed for the production of a bottle.
The terroir is very particular with a Mediterranean climate accentuated by the remoteness of the sea, a mineral soil-restoring the heat at night, and a dominant wind, the “tramontane”.
To evolve in this difficult environment, they take care to select our vines with the objective of obtaining the best of this grape variety with an agriculture interventionist month possible.
Le Secret des Marchands – IGP Côtes Catalanes – Grande Réserve – 2016
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