Roquetaillade, a high-altitude terroir
On the foothills of the Pyrenees, Roquetaillade is a small village that distinguish in the Languedoc by its surprising freshness.
The limestone cliffs are carved on 54 million years old calcareous rocks. A multitude of marine fossils with poetic names bear witness to an ancient sea: Turritella figolina, Assilina leymerei, Nummulites couizensis, Nummulites exilis Alveolina cucumiformis, Operculina subgranulosa, Turritella trempina, ...
The soils are very deep, made of calcareous clay that act like big sponges: they retain water and moisture in the soils, even during our hot and dry summers.
Roquetaillade is located on a climatic crossroads, between a Mediterranean climate (dry and hot), Atlantic influences (more humid), both tempered by the proximity of the Pyrenees (colder). We then have an interesting temperature range between day and night during the summer that suit the vines very well (35-40°C during the day, less than 15°C during the night).
Thus, the vineyards do not suffer from drought, and the wines reveal the freshness and sharpness given by this amazing terroir.
Practices in respect of the terroir
We want to express all the typicality of the terroir in our wines. We thus have to do our best to protect it.
We preserve the agricultural and natural ecosystems in the landscape: we set up agroecological practices (see the Agroecology section to learn more about our practices).
We do our best to keep our vines as long as possible: we prune in respect of the sap flow, we replace missing plants (complantation), we fight against wood diseases...
Our main goal is to get healthy grapes, with a great quality potential. It allow us to work with simplicity in the cellar, without adding any artifice in our wines.
A family of winemakers with strong personality
Pierre and Marie-Claire grew up in Roquetaillade and worked in the vineyards of Pierre's family during their youth. They left in the 80's and worked in other estates: they especially spent many years in the Loire Valley. They meet there Dider Dagueneau, who encouraged them to go back on their homeland and to take over the family vineyards. It was in 2004 and they only get back 4 ha of Chardonnay at this time.
In 2017, Camille and Thomas (daughter in law and son of Pierre and Marie-Claire) who worked in Ecology in a French research lab, decided to quit their job and to come back on the estate. They are now running the estate while their parents “retired” (they bought a tiny vineyard in Banyuls, where they vinify White and Red Collioure).
Camille and Thomas also worked with Frédéric, their brother in law, who was butcher in the Jura: Mouscaillo is then build on many conversions!