Domaine la Monardiere

Of the 175 wine growers in Vacqueyras, only 45 are bottling their own wines and selling direct from the domaine. All of the others are selling to the co-op or to one of the three negociants in town. The Vache family of Domaine la Monardière falls amongst the growers. The Vache family bought their domaine in 1987 from the Monarde family. They immediately got to work revitalizing the vineyards, building a new winemaking facility and selling the wines from the domaine’s door.  The Vache’s also harvest all of their vineyards by hand, which is not a requirement of AOC Vacqueyras, nor is it a common practice. They have been working organically in the vineyards since 2000, but only began the certification process in 2007. 2010 will be the first certified organic vintage. Domaine la Monardière practices organic viticulture, and vinifies with as little intervention in the cellar as possible to produce authentic wines that are true to their origin. In the cellar, the grapes are sorted and destemmed and then put into cement vats. The indigenous yeasts found on the grapes start the fermentation naturally. They pump over the wine daily for a gentle extraction. The Syrah and some of the Grenache vats are punched down manually. Maceration takes place for two to three weeks. The wines are aged in vats or used barrels throughout the winter and then bottled without fining or filtration at the domaine. The result? A pure expression of Vacqueyras.

www.monardiere.fr