Grape: Cinsault
Region: Cotes Catalanes, Languedoc-Roussilon, France
Features: Organic, Biodynamic

Distributor's Notes:

"In the heart of the Roussillon, in Rivesaltes, Cazes has near 200 hectares that each year give rise to 14 different wines.

Vins de pays, Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon Villages, Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes... each of those is given the same care in nearly twelve different processes, each combining traditional know-how and elaborate technology.

For the last ten years Cazes has been using new viticulture methods which use the principals of a naturally healthy plant: the bio-dynamic principal.

Located between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean, in Rivesaltes, in the heart of the Roussillon, Cazes was created in 1895 by Michel Cazes. Like most of the Rivesaltes farmers of his generation, he practised viticulture in order to sell grapes to local winemaking merchants.

In 1927 Aimé, his son, succeeded in convincing Michel that he should buy Mas Joffre, a former property of the famous Maréchal Joffre, who was born in Rivesaltes.

The purchase of this small 8-hectare (20-acre) vineyard was an important chapter in the history of Domaine Cazes. Down the years, the property grew, via the acquisition of neighbouring parcels of land; by the 1950s, its extent had reached 40 hectares (99 acres).

In 1971, younger brother Bernard graduated with an oenology degree from the University of Bordeaux, where he had learned modern vinification techniques under Professors Emile Peynaud and Pascal Ribereau-Gayon.

His entry into the family business proved a decisive step in its development.

From this point onwards, André was to be responsible for management and marketing, while Bernard was to oversee viticulture and winemaking for the estate, which by now had grown to 60 hectares (6148 acres). Today it is Emmanuel Cazes, Bernard’son, who is the wine maker of CAZES and Lionel LAVAIL the general manager of CAZES.

A true pioneer in the production and the marketing of high-quality Roussillon wines, CAZES is known as one of the flag bearers of Roussillon’s viticulture and has become a byword for quality over the past fifty years. Today, CAZES carries out a sales turnover of more than 4.5 million Euros and sells more than 1 200 000 bottles per year, as well in france as abroad.

Whilst remaining vigilant on the excellence of its wines produced from low yielding vines, CAZES proposes a wide range of wines from fabulous Catalan soils which extend over 220 hectares, entirely converted to organic and bio-dynamic culture.

VINEYARD

Today, Cazes has no less than 220 hectares of vineyards, which produce 13 different wines every year. This diversification has been brought about in part by our desire to experiment and to learn, but above all by the wide variety of terroirs found in the region.
Any short tour of the vast amphitheatre that makes up the Roussillon vineyards, bordered in the East by the Mediterranean, in the South by the Pyrénées and in the West by the hills of Corbières will reveal a multiplicity of soil types.

The specific terroir of Cazes is ideally located at the crossing of the mid-slope terraces of the Agly Valley and the alluvial debris of the Reboul River, around the communes of Rivesaltes and of Salses-le-Château.

Cazes vines grow on a soil perfectly suited for the production of high quality wines, as they are mainly made up of clay-limestone with some schistose materials as well as siliceous pebbles.

Grapes varieties are apportioned as follows:
- Syrah 48 ha, Mourvèdre 21 ha, Carignan 1,5 ha used for the production of Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon Villages AOP
- Grenache noir 30,5 ha for Côtes du Roussillon, Rivesaltes Grenat and Rivesaltes Tuilé AOP
- Cabernet Sauvignon 19 ha, Merlot 13.5 ha, Tannat 1.5 ha, Cabernet Franc 1 ha, Petit Manseng 1 ha for red and rose Côtes Catalanes IGP
- Muscat d'Alexandrie 27 ha, Muscat à petits grains 17 ha for Muscat de Rivesaltes AOP
- Grenache Blanc 6 ha for Rivesaltes Ambre AOP
- Viognier 5 ha, Colombard 1 ha for white Côtes Catalanes IGP

TWO MONTHS OF HARVESTING

Because we grow so many different varieties and produce so many different wines, the harvest programme begins in mid-August, when we gather in the Chardonnay, Muscat a Petits Grains, and Macabeu grapes, and does not end until mid-October, when we harvest Grenache grapes with a minimum potential alcohol level in unfermented sugars of 14%, measure on the vine, for Rivesaltes.

The grapes are brought back to the cellars in their natural unbroken state. They are sometimes destemmed, sometimes crushed, and sometimes left whole depending on the desired wine type.

Twelve different vinification procedures are required to produce our range of 13 wines. While the fermentations are singing their sweet song in the vats, under the supervision of our cellar workers and oenologists, we analyse, taste, and retaste.

A delicate task indeed, since no mistakes can be countenanced in putting together the blends that will create Cazes quality."