PUIG AMBEILLE 2023 (Domaine de la Tour Vieille)

DESCRIPTION

PUIG AMBEILLE is a blend of three red grape varieties with a majority of Mourvèdre. This capricious variety needs to be harvested at optimum maturity: it then offers an aromatic bouquet of great complexity.
The vines that make up this cuvée are mostly located in the Puig Ambeille locality and their yield does not exceed 35 hl/ha.

TERROIR

The soils that make up the Domaine La Tour Vieille vineyard are among the oldest terroirs in Europe, since their formation dates back to the primary era, and more precisely a period ranging from the Ediacaran (-635 to -540 My) to the Cambrian (-540 to -488 My).
The rocks of the Collioure and Banuyls vineyards are of the metasedimentary type, i.e. a sedimentary rock formed by sediments deposition and solidification, then subjected to an increase in temperature and pressure during tectonic movements which will create modifications in its mineral composition as well as its structure.
The terroir on which the PUIG AMBEILLE vines are planted dates from the Ediacaran period and is made up of schists called schistes de Canaveilles, which are more or less metamorphic, as well as feldspathic sandstones and black schists.
This schistose bedrock, which is exposed on the surface, forces the vines to take deep roots in order to find their water resources, which are essential in summer.

WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING

The Côte Vermeille vineyard is organised on terraces and requires exclusively manual and sustainable winegrowing works as it limits the interventions in the vineyard.
The low rainfall, the sunshine and the tramontana wind are the major assets of the region which allow the estate to obtain grapes of an excellent sanitary quality without having to use synthetic phytosanitary products.
The vines are therefore cared for and treated in accordance with the Organic Agriculture specifications, even if the estate is not officially certified by Ecocert.

The grapes are harvested by hand between end of August and mid-September, first the Grenache and then the Mourvèdre and Carignan.
Mourvèdre and Grenache are both vatted together in stainless steel tanks for a 6 week maceration period during which the alcoholic and maloactic fermentations take place. Some pumping over during this vatting period allows a gentle extraction of tannins and aromas.
At the end of the maceration phase, the musts are pressed and the juice is aged for 18 months in stainless steel vats where it completes its malolactic fermentation.
It is then racked, lightly filtered and bottled.