Coteaux du Languedoc Domaine Montcalmes 2009

Lot presentation

Coteaux du Languedoc Domaine Montcalmes 2009

The wine

The slopes of the Languedoc are home to France's oldest vines, planted by the ancient Greeks, five centuries before Christ. The Romans developed the region, and the wines, whose praises were sung by Cicero, Columella and Pliny the Younger, were exported in amphoras all over the Mediterranean. Wine production was revitalized by the monastic movements of the Middle Ages, that revolved around the Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys. From the 18th century, the Canal du Midi stimulated trade in the Languedoc's wines, which received AOC approval in 1985. The vines are planted on terroir that dates from the Quaternary period, consisting of pebbles and schist, and which also contain scree from the edge of the limestone plateaus ("causses").

Vincent Guizard cleared some land and planted new plots of vines on rolled pebbled hillsides that stretch up to a forest while he was working with Frédéric Poutarlié, the winemaker at and owner of Domaine de Montcalmès. These plots are located around Brousses which is situated between Aniane and Puechabon in the southwest of France. Vincent Guizard created his own winery with his wife Sophie in 2010, keeping the vineyard he planted which today covers eight hectares. The couple have chosen to work in a sustainable manner, preferring to carry out the work by hand to care for the terroir and the soil vitality. Each plot is tended to with care and each vine is treated as an individual. Together they have learnt how to graft vines to be able to easily replace those that are too old or ill. In the cellar, the work is also carried out in a sustainable manner to be able to show off the beauty of the terroir in these fruity and illuminous wines.