Domaine Rouaud, a little gem in Roussillon.

In 2003, Sophie and Jerome Rouaud set out: after training in Bordeaux, they settled in Roussillon on an existing vineyard of 9 hectares (25 years on average) located in Pezilla la Riviere, on the banks of the Tet River. The grapes, previously brought to the cooperative, will now be bottled, and the vine led like a Grand Cru!

The vines have been cultivated in organic farming since the beginning (Ecocert certification since 2004). The meticulous care given to the vineyard is almost all manual and contributes to the development of the microbial life of soils (which are not packed by tractors), vine-soil balance, respect for biodiversity, identity of the terroir: winter pruning, disbudding, raising, pruning and harvesting, all this is manual.

When necessary, a little natural compost (certified organic, of course!), strengthens the balance of the soil.

Each grape vine planted comes from grafts made on massive selections of old vines from the estate.

The vineyards (the oldest carignans were planted in 1949) are located in terraces and benefit from a particularly good microclimate: sunshine, low rainfall and predominant dry tramontana (ideal for maintaining the good sanitary condition of an organic estate) .

The soils, originating from the quaternary, are on the one hand clayey-stony (quartz-gneiss-red and yellow clays-rolled pebbles) and on the other hand pulverized schists. The yield varies according the vintages between 15 and 20 hl / ha, ridiculous but the quality is at this price.

The vines are very traditional for the Cotes du Roussillon Villages appellation:
- red: syrah, black grenache, mourvedre, black and grey carignan.
- whites: Muscat Petits-Grains, Macabeo, white carignan, white grenache.

To a vine perfectly held, it is necessary to add the same care to the cellar to produce fine wines. This is also the case with the Rouaud, always as naturally as possible. All the best practices are strictly followed during vinification: when manual harvesting arrives in the cellar (after a search for optimum maturity, avoiding any over-ripeness!), it is destemmed, crushed. Each grape varietey and each single vineyard is vinified individually (with native yeasts): this allows to adapt to each "juice" the frequency of reassembly, the (light) punching, and the duration of vatting.
Sulfur is fortunately not banished, because the wine must retain its qualities during transport and when it sees light, but limited to the strict minimum: the dry wines of the estate contain between 25 and 60 mg / L of so2. Which is ridiculous compared to the authorized threshold (160 to +200 mg / L).