Domaine de l'Estagnere
PGI City of Carcassonne
The wines of the estate
History
Character & Nature
FRESHNESS AND WIND
Languedocian, resolutely Occitan, Carcassonne is however farther from the Mediterranean than the geography would suggest.Its climate of transition between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic also has a continental influence due to its location, directly between the foot of the Pyrenees to the south and that of the Montagne Noire to the north. s winters are harsher there than on the coast and, during the summer, the thermal amplitudes between day and night are much more sensitive. The north wind, the Cers, blows there after crossing the Montagne Noire which separates the Aude from the Tarn. Always dry, it is cold in winter and hot in summer. 130 days a year, it purifies the vineyards, which benefit in L'Estagnère from a humid climate with rains all year round (except in July) due to the oceanic influence. The soils of the estate present a clay-limestone mosaic spread over 90 hectares with a great variety of choices for the IGP Carcassonne grape varieties, from the earliest to the latest. The oceanic climatic influence allows the Atlantic grape varieties to find their balance in L'Estagnère, in particular in red, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc and Merlot.
Winemaking
ALL THE FRUIT AND NOTHING THAN THE FRUIT
The sunny (more than 700 hours of sunshine per year) and windy (130 days per year on average) climate places L'Estagnère in the ideal situation to produce healthy grapes with a minimal vineyard treatments. Gérard Bertrand wanted to put this impeccable harvest at the service of a production at the height of oenological rigor. The wines of Domaine de l'Estagnère are indeed vinified and bottled without added sulphites. The vinification is very traditional and extremely rigorous: not using SO2 (antioxidant and antiseptic), the oenologist has no room for error. On the other hand, vinification without SO2 makes it possible to obtain wines with crunchiness and incomparable purity of fruit. This is the whole purpose of this vinification: to reveal a whole new dimension of impeccably ripe and deliciously expressive grapes. The fruit, all the fruit and nothing but the fruit. In red, the Cabernet-Sauvignon, Marselan and Merlot grape varieties are destemmed and crushed before being placed in thermo-regulated vats. Extraction is done by controlled pumping over during tasting. The wines are pressed, put in vats to carry out their mal-lactic fermentation. After a light fining, the wine is bottled. In rosé, the Cabernet Franc and Caladoc grape varieties are harvested at night and the juices are obtained by direct pressing and the wine is bottled quickly in order to preserve its aromatic qualities. In white, the Domaine de l'Estagnère offers a blend of Chardonnay and Colombard, also harvested at night, pressed on arrival in the cellar and bottled quickly. The range is completed by a Pinot Gris, which is fermented and vinified in half new French oak barrels. During ageing, the presence of fine lees, regularly stirred, protects the wines from oxidation while providing roundness. Wines aged in barrels and vats are blended just before bottling.
Domaine de l'Estagnère, "Fortress of Taste"
occitan, estanhièro – a, craftsmen tinsmith, metalworker who gives it back its youth, place where history and land merge, where the winemaker crafts wines that reveal Nature and invent the future.
