The domaine de l'aigle, at the crossroads of terroirs and climates

Nestled on a mountainside in the Pre-Pyrenees, the Domaine de l'Aigle reveals itself in all its splendour at the end of a path, along the Causse stream. Bathed in the gentle sunshine of Roquetaillade's Indian summer, whose château appears on the heights, the 51 hectares of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer welcome the 2021 harvest.

Welcoming the future, bunch by bunch… The harvest at the Domaine de l'Aigle is carried out entirely by hand, as Thibault Haentjens, estate manager of the Domaine de l'Aigle for more than 10 years, explains. And on these lands of the Haute Vallée de l'Aude, to speak of the hardship of the harvest is an understatement. Reaching almost 500 metres in altitude, the plots were planted along the slopes of the Roquetaillade cirque, and it is therefore steep rows that the thirty harvesters of the Domaine de l'Aigle walk each day.

Grape varieties of Burgundian tradition

At the foot of the Roquetaillade cliff, the cellar receives the first bunches from the Chardonnay plots. They will yield the next vintage of the Aigle Royal Chardonnay, a wine of intense freshness that will be pressed, settled, fermented in tanks and aged in oak barrels.
Higher up, the plots of the Aigle Royal Pinot Noir are also reaching maturity. The estate welcomed the first Pinot Noir vines planted in the Haute Vallée by pioneering winemakers as early as 1981.

This grape variety, generally associated with Burgundy, today forms a unique diversity of plots. For Thibault, this singularity makes the blend exceptional: « Here, instead of blending grape varieties, we blend plots. Our Pinots at the end of ageing are very different from one another. A bit as if we were tasting distinct grape varieties. Our diversity is phenomenal for a single-variety vineyard. »

A unique microclimate rich in biodiversity

Oceanic, Mediterranean and mountain, the Domaine de l'Aigle sits at the crossroads of three climates. This privileged position results in lush vegetation on the north-west facing slope, counterbalanced by drier Mediterranean garrigue to the south. The clay-limestone soil is more resistant to water stress and yields wines that are both fine and complex.
The Domaine de l'Aigle embraces life in all its dimensions: fauna, flora and soil. Biodynamics allows this singular vitality to be expressed in the wine. The Domaine de l'Aigle Pinot Noir received the Gold Medal at the Prix Plaisir 2019 and 2020 from the Bettane & Desseauve guide.

To follow the harvest estate by estate: