Château de l'Ou 'l'Orange de l'Ou', Côtes Catalanes 2022
A refreshing orange wine with intriguing aromas of candied orange peel, citrus and a touch of curry spice. On the palate, delicious notes of grapefruit, peach and delicate ginger lead to a long, crisp finish.
The Muscat à Petit Grains grapes come from the Côtes Catalans, which is the principle IGP allowing only mono-varietal wines. The vines thrive at an altitude of 325 metres’ elevation in the Haute Vallée de l'Agly, in the Roussillon region. The climate is Mediterranean, strongly influenced by cooling coastal breezes combined with mountain-freshness from the foothills of the Pyrenees which balance the hot, arid summers. The terroir is made up of a mosaic of black schist soils, which date back to the Cretaceous period. The schistous marl produces shallow soils, which force the vines to send their roots deep in search of water and nutrients. The vineyard is certified organic, no herbicides or chemicals are used. Yields are kept low to ensure good concentration of the pure fruit flavours and the grapes are hand-harvested.
The vinification is characterised by a long, skin contact maceration lasting for four months in cool temperatures of between 4 and 5°C, to extract the delicate orange colour. Fermentation took place with selected yeasts in terracotta egg shaped amphora. The ovoid shape sets the lees into perpetual motion, naturally accentuating the varietal aromas and minerality, while requiring minimum intervention from the winemaker. The wine was clarified through cool temperatures and lightly filtered.
Château de l’Ou is a dynamic, organic estate in Montescot, Roussillon owned by oenologists Séverine and Philippe Bourrier. Purchased in 1998, they immediately converted to organic farming, an avant-gardist approach in Roussillon at that time, and the estate is now certified by Ecocert. The estate, which originally comprised 30 hectares: 26 hectares of vineyard and four of olive trees, has been gradually expanded by adding plots from across the region, by 2018, it covered a further 45 hectares. L'Ou’ translates as ‘egg’ in Catalan, and refers to an ovoid-shape resurgence of water that was located at the site of the property, which Séverine and Philippe wanted to bring to life in their project. Together, they use their expertise to cultivate the Roussillon terroir with its heat and arid lands to hand-craft wines using a variety of fermentation vessels, from concrete eggs, terracotta and sandstone amphora to barrels, producing stunning, supple cuvées which showcase this distinctive terroir.
