Castelmaure

The history of Castelmaure

The Castelmaure winery was founded in 1921, right in the heart of the village. Close to the vines, it is equipped to vinify and store wine in formation in century-old concrete containers, whose thermal inertia enhances maceration.

Towards the end of the 1970s, Castelmaure decided to move upmarket and improve its wines. Renowned oenologist Marc Dubernet advised the introduction of carbonic maceration for the Carignan, leaving the bunches whole. The wines improved instantly, becoming rounder and suppler, with exacerbated fruitiness.

Since then, this method has been preserved and is still used today, becoming the hallmark of Castelmaure production. Thanks to an exacting plot selection, the wines produced by the cooperative offer a superb expression of terroir.

The Castelmaure vineyard

Castelmaure relies on the production of around sixty winegrowers who have worked as a family for several generations. The cultivated area is therefore extensive and naturally varied, both in terms of soil and landscape. In all, it represents 450 hectares of clay-limestone soils to the south and east, and schist hills to the north and west.
- To the east, the border is marked by the small Visigothic chapel of Castelmaure, situated at the end of the gorge of the greenhouse of Périllos. Cypress, maple and arbutus trees share the land.
- To the south, the boundary of the terroir is marked by a cirque of white limestone cliffs. Beyond them lies Roussillon, once the kingdom of Aragon and Spain.
- To the west, the Castelmaure vineyards are protected from the winter winds by the Sauveille rampart. The nearby Col de Laval marks the beginning of the immense pine forest.
- The north is bounded by shale hills, covered by dense scrubland, a paradise for wild boar and the genet, a small carnivorous mammal with a long tail that is very cute, but difficult to observe, not least because of its nocturnal nature. Here, holm oaks and arjalat (thorny broom) reign supreme.
- At the center of this terroir lies the plain where the village of Embres et Castelmaure nestles, with its white walls and ochre roofs.

The grapes are harvested by hand to respect the fruit, but also to be able to work very old plots on hillsides that are inaccessible to machines.

Castelmaure wines

Castelmaure offers 5 cuvées.
- Les Remarquables with three red wines: N° 3 de Castelmaure, Pompadour and Grande Cuvée Castelmaure ;
- Une Autre Route with two red wines: La Réputation and Ô Village;
- L'Esprit du Vent with two red wines: Les 400 Coups and 100 Ans de Réflexion;
- Les Désaxées with a white wine, La Probatoire, and a red wine, L'Indomptable ;
- Les Fondamentaux, with two red wines, Ancien and le Rouge, a white wine, Le Blanc de Castelmaure and a rosé wine, Le Rosé de Castelmaure.