œnotourism

We were winegrowers... Facing the road, guarded by two pillars surmounted by stone barrels, the old cellar of the domain remains the great witness of our wine history. Until the end of the 1970s, Domaine de Montlaur had a hundred hectares of vines, an army of tractors and this monumental 2000m2 cellar where gigantic concrete tuns with sparkling copper taps lined up in the dark. Those were the days when the health of an estate was measured in hectoliters. It was a time when hybrids reigned supreme in Aude viticulture.

The fruit of crossbreeding between our delicate and sensitive grape varieties and their more rustic American cousins, the introduction of these grafted vines had saved the Languedoc vineyard from ruin, destroyed in 1883 by phylloxera. Resistant to disease, driven in buckets, these American rootstocks offered exceptional harvests of incredible abundance with yields of up to 120 hectoliters per hectare. The time of the Eldorado of wine came. In their frenzy of replanting, the winegrowers, contaminated by profit, opted for profit at the expense of quality. So much so that the Languedoc vineyards became the largest producer of table wine in the country. What did it matter if this light wine, without too much flavor, had a low alcohol content? Cut with the Algerian one, it took back colors.

The 1980s turned the painful page of this Languedoc winegrowing which was destined to disappear. Slowly the winegrowers began to seek to regain the winegrowing heritage. Almost all of the 15,000 hectares of the Corbières appellation were replanted. The incredible richness of the biodiversity of its terroirs, which are among the most beautiful in France, was finally reappropriated.

Today, the excellence of the work of the winegrowers, their approach to organic farming, the exceptional variety of authorized grape varieties - Carignan, Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Picpoul Noir, Cinsault, Terret Noir, Grenache Gris - which enriches the beautiful range of reds, whites and rosés, have restored the Corbières vineyard to its former glory. Set in a landscape of sublime beauty, it offers a multitude of little-known nuggets that are as sumptuous as they are unexpected.


Here are some of them, which you will find in the gîte you occupy. So that you can get a first idea before you set off to discover our wine routes, whose secrets we will give you. If you wish, we can show you some of our tours. Taste and let yourself be guided...

IN MONTLAUR AND SURROUNDINGS

- Domaine Fourtanier : 9, rue du Pountil. 11220 Montlaur. T. +33 (0)4 68 24 01 40 or +33 (0)4 68 24 08 07. Ask for Frédo. Good value for money.

- Domaine Baillat : 31, avenue de Malbec. 11220 Montlaur. T. +33 (0)4 68 24 08-05. Ask for Christian. Wonderfully organic!

- Cellier Joseph Deltei l, 1, rue Joseph Delteil. 11220 Serviès en Val. T. +33 (0)4 68 24 75 54. Very reasonable prices.


A LITTLE FURTHER ON

 - Domaine PY : 114 Avenue des Corbières, 11700 Douzens. T. +33(0)6 07 45 49 63. A beautiful range and a very great rosé totally organic.

- Château la Baronne : 21 Rue Jean Jaurès, 11700 Moux. T. +33(0)4 68 43 90 07. In the courtyard of the greats.

- Château La Voulte Gasparet : 13, avenue des Corbières, Hameau de Gasparet, 11200 Boutenac. T. +33 (0)4 68 27 07 86. Delicious, magnificent, one of our favorites.

- Château Les Ollieux-Romanis : departmental road 613, 11200 Montseret. T. +33 (0)4 68 43 35 20. Great class.

- Château de Serres : route de Serres, 11000 Carcassonne. T. +33 (0)4 68 25 03 94 or +33 (0)6 80 45 27 78. Ask for Sabine. Very nice range of reds, rosés and whites.
- Domaine J.Laurens : les Graimenous, 11300 La Digne d'Aval. T. +33 (0)4 68 31 54 54. Among the best Blanquettes de Limoux.

- Discover the cellars: discovery tours of the cellars of the Corbières and Minervois: wine on vacation, vine tour. T. +33 (0)4 42 33 34 09. Ask for Wendy.