IGP CÔTES CATALANES ROUGE 2015

Jeb Dunnuck (Robert Parker Wine Advocate – March 2017: 97/100)

“A new cuvée resulting from a blend of three barrels and possessing a high level of elegance and purity: 300 cases of Ipso Facto 2015 IGP Côtes Catalanes 100% Syrah which spent 15 months in new French barrels. Notes of grilled meat, iodine, ripe black currants, smoked duck, liquorice and chocolate come out of the glass. Full-bodied, seamless and ultra-pure, it is a “tour de force” of Roussillon. You have to drink it to believe it.”

Syrah
This cuvée symbolises the road travelled by the Château de L’Ou. It comes from our three terroirs.
Complete vinification in barrels: the grapes, from a selection of berries, are put directly into 300 litre barrels (only one of the two bottoms is closed). Maceration lasts 5 weeks with manual punching down, then each barrel is emptied and pressed, with the cooper coming to the estate to close the barrels. The wine finishes fermenting in these same barrels. Aged for 18 months.
This cuvée symbolises the quintessence of our three terroirs… The crimson red colour elegantly but unrestrainedly dresses the complex aromas of violet, blackcurrant and cocoa. The powerful and well-balanced palate offers silky and extremely elegant tannins. The bewitching character of black fruits, liquorice and a few hints of pepper cannot leave you indifferent… A wine of expression and emotion…

The domain

“L’Ou” in Catalan, means “the egg” in French: it is the name of the place where the property is located because at that time there was an ovoid-shaped resurgence of water there. The Mas de L’Ou, which seems to have been exploited by the Knights Templar, was a popular stopping place for the muleteers of the region. When we bought the property in 1998 we wanted to bring this egg symbol to life.

In 1998, Séverine and Philippe Bourrier bought the 30 hectare estate in a single block planted with 26 hectares of vines and 4 hectares of olive trees in the commune of Montescot in the Pyrénées-Orientales, 10 km south of Perpignan. The entire property is immediately converted to Organic Farming. This very avant-garde approach at the time, had only attracted 3 properties in Roussillon. In 2009, Séverine and Philippe decided to make the estate’s terroirs more complex, with 8 hectares of vines in Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet and 7 hectares of vines in Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, converted to Organic Farming, in the Upper Agly Valley. In 2017, 7 hectares in Maury will complete the estate.

The terroirs

Montescot: The Alluvial Marls of the Roussillon Plain

The Quaternary era is a short period (from 1.65 million years to the present day) during which the alternation of cold periods known as “glacial” and temperate or warm periods known as “interglacial” will finish sculpting the reliefs of the department. In the Roussillon plain, the rivers that flow down from the reliefs carve their valleys through layers of sediment from the Pliocene, forming alluvial terraces.
In the heart of the Roussillon vineyard, the 26 hectares adjoining the estate are on alluvial marl soils, laid out on the terraces of the dry river Réart.

Maury: The Black Marls and Schists of the Agly Valley

The 7 hectares at an altitude of 300 metres extend over hills of black and brown schist planted with black and grey Grenache. The Maury terroir offers great aromatic complexity characterised by notes of black fruit, garrigue and freshness.

Saint-Paul-De-Fenouillet : The Mosaic Schists of the Upper Agly Valley

It is rather the secondary era that marked the terroirs of St-Paul-de-Fenouillet. These are 14 hectares at an altitude of 325 metres on brown schists. The cool summer nights slow down the ripening of the grape berries while the light and wind slowly concentrate their aromas characterised by spices.

Caudiès-De-Fenouillèdes : The Black Schists of the Haute Vallée de l’Agly

Originating from the same era, the 7 hectares are situated at an altitude of 385 metres on black schists which benefit, in an exceptional and strange way for the Pyrénées-Orientales, from an oceanic influence. Chardonnay and Syrah produce mineral wines of rare finesse.