The “complantation”, an ancestral method, a method preserved in Roussillon.

One of the specificities of the Banyuls cru and shared in Roussillon is the complantation of several grape varieties on the same plot. This ancient practice dates back to a time when grape varieties were not as important as they are today, and it was very natural for a winegrower of past centuries to replace the dead stumps of a vineyard with plants of a different grape variety than the one planted on the plot. A plot of land was rarely uprooted in its entirety, and vines that were no longer old were replaced, or “complemented”, in what is known today as “massal selection”, since they were made up of very old vines and more recent ones planted to replace the “missing” ones.

At Domaine Augustin & La Préceptorie we have maintained this method of cultivation. This means that during the harvest, we have to make several passes to harvest, for example, first the Grenaches gris to make white Collioures or white Côtes du Roussillon at the end of August, then ten days later, on the same plot, the Grenaches noir to make red Collioure or red Côtes du Roussillon. This “segmentation” of the harvest corresponds to a distribution of the production and forces us to distribute the marketing. Contrary to other estates, in other crus, we did not choose our vineyard, our grape varieties; we wished to preserve an old vineyard which only produced traditional Banyuls or Maury twenty years ago by making it “speak” differently today through the exposure and the altitude of these plots vinified in a different way. We did not choose to plant this or that grape variety after a market study to make a type of wine adapted to this market. Therefore, our distributor clients can only support us if they like the wines and if they share the same cultural requirements in order to maintain this anachronistic vineyard, by marketing and consuming the wines, all the wines produced, whether they are white, red or mutated.

It is for this reason that we cannot meet the demands of those who would be content to buy only the whites from us to the detriment of everything else: the volumes of white wines made available to our customers can only be in proportion to those withdrawn from the reds.

The Plots

Domaine Augustin works 10 hectares spread over 12 plots. They constitute several very different terroirs due to their soils, subsoils, altitudes, exposure and of course the age of the vines. Nevertheless, two main types of terroir can be identified among these parcels:

The so-called recent parcels, planted by Marc Parcé, Augustin’s father, in the 1980s, at altitude, on cooler, deeper land, facing east and looking out to sea.

The second type of plot corresponds to the old vineyard, the vines are not old and are planted with other vines. We find mainly Grenaches noirs and gris, but also blancs, Carignans, Mourvèdres, and some Cinsaults. This is a matter of massal selection. The soils are generally shallower and less rich and the grapes mature earlier.

These lower altitude plots benefit from the relief to shelter from the wind.

The Work

There are a few elements that condition the work at Domaine Augustin.

The vineyard is on a slope, not on small hillsides but on steep slopes like in the northern part of the Rhône Valley in Côte-Rôtie or in the Savoie vineyards for example. Working the soil is therefore difficult and the rainy autumn periods force us to work perpendicular to the slope, so as to slow down the flow of water, to limit erosion. Horses or mules are now irreplaceable for those who want to save our dry stone walls and agulles. I have never yet seen a tractor manage to straddle a wall or jump an agulle.

Another determining factor for the vineyard is the lack of water associated with poor soils. This water deficit leads to low yields which vary according to the plots and the vintage (the Grenache which makes up 90% of the vineyard is very late) between 15 and 35hl/ha.

Grafting in place with wood from our oldest plots allows us to have a selection of plant material particularly adapted to our constraints.

The low vigour of the vines, combined with the windy climate, allows us to use only natural products to treat the vines.

The Plots

The Domaine de la Préceptorie is located in Saint-Paul de Fenouillet, at the bottom of the Algy valley. Our 29 hectares of vines on 44 plots are spread out along the valley, between Estagel and Saint-Paul de Fenouillet and vary in altitude from 100 to 200 metres. They constitute several very different terroirs due to their soils, subsoils, altitudes, exposure and of course the age of the vines.

The vineyard is located on plots of black schist and schistous marl in the second layer. The flaky structure of the shale gives the roots the possibility to penetrate deep into the soil to find moisture. The black colour allows the soil to absorb heat during the day and release it after dark, thus allowing the grapes to reach a very high sugar content. There are also clay-limestone soils which are balanced soils that combine the clay and its freshness with the filtering properties of the limestone, these wines are fine, fruity and round without being heavy.

We find mainly black Grenache, Carignan and some Syrah for the reds, Macabeu as well as grey and white Grenache for the whites.

The Work

The vineyard of La Préceptorie is on small slopes which, unlike the plots of land of Domaine Augustin, are mechanized, the work of the ground is thus less difficult. Nevertheless, we apply the same philosophy of working as closely as possible to the vine and the terroir, intervening only when necessary.

Vinification

(includes both domains)

The grapes are obviously harvested by hand, in small boxes.

The work in the cellar is classic, gentle pressing and punching of the cap, maturing in vats or barrels as required and that’s it.

We think that if the work in the vineyard has been well done, then it is enough to simply accompany the grapes in the cellar.

Finally, after having mentioned the soil, the climate, the plant material and our practices, which constitute the four elements of the terroir, we simply want to say that as far as our practices are concerned, which we are not used to talking about and which cannot be seen, we take the time to work well all year round.