Two men meet

Pierre Gaillard a vintner of Côte-Rôtie, St. Joseph and Condrieu, had always been fascinated by the beauty of the Banyuls countryside and by the huge potential of the terroir.  In 2002, he purchased the old estate of Pagès. 

Jean Baills and his son Mathieu both loved their 15-hectare Catalan vineyard, and decided to express their love by pulling out of the wine cooperative.

 Shared love for this unique vineyard brought them all together into a partnership.  Jean and Mathieu brought their knowledge of the vineyard, while Pierre Gaillard enriched the partnership with his know-how, his talents as a winemaker, and a well-equipped cellar.

 

 

The Madeloc cellar

Since I became interested in wine, and in particular since I was a student in Montpelier, the terroir of Banyuls fascinated me both because of the beauty of the countryside and because of the great potential of the vineyard.  And I had always dreamed of tackling the complexity of this appellation.

 

The Madeloc domain

A vineyard at the foot of the Pyrénées 

 

The vineyard covers a total area of 30 hectares; the 23 hectares under cultivation stretch across the communes of Banyuls and Port-Vendres.  The parcels are scattered along the seaside, the bottoms of valleys, and mountains and at altitudes ranging from 2 to 450 metres.  Some face north, some face south and still others face east, which enriches the complexity of the wines by creating multiple micro-climates.  Protected from the wind, the valley parcels have a very warm climate, which brings about the over-ripening necessary for making the great Banyuls wines.  The other parcels – along the seaside and at high altitude – enjoy a cooler climate, which is perfect for slow ripening and the balance in the wines of Collioure.

 The grape varieties planted are typical of Roussillon.  The Grenache grape is a basic variety for the Banyuls “vintage”, and is combined with Grenache Gris and old Carignan winestocks for the Banyuls “traditionnel”. 

 The red Collioure is a blend of Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Carignan. 

 The Banyuls white wine is made from Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris, which, in combination with Vermentino, are also used to make Collioure Blanc. 

 The Roussanne was planted in 2002; this variety is very dear to Pierre Gaillard, who immortalises it in his white St. Joseph, which is made from only that variety.

  

 

 A magnificent countryside of the Banyuls vineyard

 

A metamorphic terroir

 

The soil of the Banyuls vineyard is schistose*.  Laid out in terraces, the parcels drop straight down to the sea in a journey back through geological times.  These works are more than 2,000 years old, and were first undertaken by the Templars to prevent erosion of the narrow band of arable land cultivated around the winestocks. 

 The terraces themselves are surrounded by canals which link up at their lowest point, allowing water to flow and tracing a network that looks like cocks’ feet.

* Schist: a metamorphic rock, easily cut, especially when subjected to tectonic pressure.  We have a quartz schist alternating with mica-schist, schist, slate and pelite.

 

Changeable weather

 The changes in the weather are as violent as they are unpredictable.  Summers are warm and dry.  In autumn, the rains come and violent storms turn the slopes into torrents.  Winters are mild and windy.  Nevertheless, the vineyard enjoys 325 days of sunshine a year.

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Rebuilding a vineyard

The philosophy: Grape quality

            When Pierre Gaillard took over the Pagès vineyard, many parcels had been abandoned.  He started rebuilding the vineyard in his first year: two hectares of vines were pulled out to make room for Syrah, Grenache and Roussanne.

Pruning

Gobelet pruning (the vines are pruned into small bushes) is used for vines which are not trained on wires, and Cordon de Royat pruning is used for those which are – in the latter case, the trunks are trained so that they extend two branches parallel to the earth from which the new shoots spout each year.

 Much effort was devoted to increasing the exposed leaf surface (ELS), which is directly reflected in the quality of the grape – phenolic ripening, which is responsible for the structure and colour of the wines, is greatly enhanced.

 That is why new plantings of Syrah and Mourvèdre are grown on stakes on the hillsides and trained on wires down in the valley.

 We tried training the Grenache on wires with a view to bring phenolic ripening closer to alcoholic ripening.  The tests were monitored by a technical team from the Chamber of Agriculture of Pyrénées Orientales.

 Thinning the leaves at the base of the Grenache stock – exposing the grapes to light – gives a clear improvement in the colouring of the skins, which in turn gives more deeply coloured wines.

Soil maintenance

            The steep slopes of the vineyard make it difficult to work the soil.  At present, we use weed-killers, but we hope to bring mechanical techniques progressively into operation in the future.

 

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