Power and Freshness of Collioure AOC
This unique cuvée draws its impressive power and freshness from the heart of the Collioure AOC vineyards, in a steep maze of schist shaped by human hands for generations.
Adventure Through Collioure Appellation
For this new chapter, Maison Castel embarked on an adventure through the steep terrains of the Collioure appellation. The appellation is characterised by its extraordinary placement on a cliff of brown schist from the early ages, overhanging the Mediterranean Sea. Here, the word resilience takes its true meaning: the battle against erosion is constant, and mechanisation is impossible, making human intervention crucial throughout the year.
Human Prowess and Self-Sacrifice
It takes true prowess, as well as a common self-sacrifice that unites all the winegrowers throughout this sun-soaked terroir, with its unique soils and its Mediterranean influence. Thus a new calibre of cuvée came to fruition in our collection.
Expertise of Philippe Gard
To write this new chapter, Maison Castel engaged the expertise of an unparalleled winegrower, Philippe Gard, whose reputation precedes him in the appellation. The Domaine is spread out over 13ha comprising 35 plots divided between the communes of Banyuls and Collioure, another maze and another exceptional playing field.
Craftsmanship and Challenges of Terroir
A terroir that perfectly illustrates the craftsmanship required to reveal it: the harvest must take place entirely by hand, and some plots reach altitudes above 380m with dramatic elevation gains, making the human hand beyond essential, fundamental. This is how this veteran winegrower in these parts has been clearing the land and replanting Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan over the past several years, taking care to preserve the much-treasured older vines, like Grenache Noir, wherever possible.
Precise Monitoring and Balance
As such, the vines on the estate average between 50–80 years old. Add to that a new challenge, that of the ripening and its wide variability according to the position within the plot, which requires very precise, daily monitoring throughout harvest to achieve the balance sought in these wines, a suitable balance between elegance and freshness, the cornerstone of the Séries Limitées.
