CHATEAU DE CARAGUILHES Languedoc

A 600 hectare estate which can date the farming of vines back to the 12th century, when it belonged to the Cistercian monks of the nearby Abbaye de Fontfroide. It was bought in 1958 by an early environmentalist wine grower from Algeria, Nicholas Faivre, whose refusal to use chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers was almost unheard of at the time, particularly given the headwinds of the aggressive agro-chemical industry. Faivre introduced and maintained a strictly organic regime, and the estate was certified organic in the late 1980s. In 1998 Faivre sold the estate to the current owner, Pierre Gabison, who has invested heavily in both the Chateau, cuveries, and the 135 hectares of vines, which lie in an autonomous bloc surrounded by 500 hectares of wild garrigue. Gabison has more recently acquired Demeter biodynamic certification for certain parcels.

These are wines with an exciting and evocative sense of place. I have a particular affection for the red Cochon Volant IGP Languedoc, a blend of organic Carignan, Grenache and Syrah which offers a heady freshness and intensity of red and black summer fruits; Tamlyn Curran of jancisrobinson.com characteristically describes it thus; “Fruity, super-fresh and with masses of mouth-watering wild-berry fruit. Slim, cheerful tannins. It tastes like a forager raid on hedgerows in late summer. Delicious and delightful.” The white Cochon Volant offers a beautifully clear, very pale golden colour with tints of green. It is fresh, lemony and expressive, with a light, floral roundness and a soft, gentle fullness. The white La Font Blanche blends Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Vermentino, a small proportion of which is barrel fermented. It carries complex aromas of almond, peaches, apricot, fennel and acacia underpinned by citrus, and promises some interesting evolution in bottle. The red offers a blend of Grenache and Syrah with a 15% of carbonically macerated old vine Carignan to give freshness and lift. It carries a deep and dense ruby red colour displaying a nice freshness with glints of violet at the edge of the glass. It has concentrated aromas of blackberries and tapenade, with undertones of rosemary and pepper, and silky palate, with notes of pepper, blackberry and black olive. Both wines are certified biodynamic under BIODYVIN -DEMETER.