Domaine Gardiés Mas las Cabes Blanc, Côtes du Roussillon 2021
An aromatic white blend with notes of lemon, wild peach, hints of ginger and floral blossom. Fruity and refreshing with fine minerality on the finish.
The Mas las Cabes vineyard nestles in the foothills of Corbières, surrounded by aromatic garrigue, where the black schists of Espira de l’Agly, combine with the limestone of the scrubland imparting characteristic finesse. The climate is Mediterranean, the hot, arid summers encouraging the vines to struggle and send their roots deep into the soil in search of nutrients, resulting in complex wines. The vines are naturally low-yielding, producing just 30hl/ha. The region is characterised by the eight different types of wind that blow across the vineyard, one day out of three, the mighty Tramontane, a dominating northerly wind, sweeps through the region. These drying winds help keep vineyards healthy, reducing the need for pest control or other human intervention. Domaine Gardiés is certified organic, the vines are hand-harvested and biodiversity in the vineyard is encouraged.
The grapes were carefully sorted, macerated for five hours to extract the aromas and flavours and immediately pressed to retain the freshness. The juice was fermented with selected organic yeasts in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, to retain the purity of fruit and the characteristics of the schist terroir. Fermentation lasted for two weeks, before the wine spent six months in stainless steel tanks, on the fine lees imbuing the wine with delicate texture and depth.
Situated at the foot of the Pyrenees in the village of Tautavel, Domaine Gardiés has been a family vineyard for eight generations. Jean Gardiés took over the property from his father in the late 1990s, and subsequently crafted his own cuvées from their naturally low-yielding vines. He now works alongside his son, Victor, together they passionately cultivate their 35-hectare estate vineyard, which sits across two terraces based on clay-limestone and black slate soils in Vingrau and Tautavel – two of the finest villages of the Côtes de Roussillon. In 1990, they purchased Mas Las Cabes, a 15- hectare estate on the Espira de l’Agly terroir. All the vines are certified organic and are cultivated with the utmost respect for the rugged and wild nature of the Roussillon region. Understanding and nurturing the soils is at the heart of the Gardiés philosophy, and as a result, they produce delicate wines which are expressive of the terroir and are characterised by complexity, depth, structure and elegance.
