CAP DE CREUS (Domaine la Tour Vieille)

DESCRIPTION

The CAP DE CREUS wine is a red Rancio wine made from a Solera or "perpetual reserve", the first vintage of which dates from 1968.
The Solera principle consists of filling an half-full tune: the wine part that has been taken out during the year is filled with old wine that has undergone an oxidative ageing in oak barrels. The very first vintage poured into this perpetual tune dates from 1968.

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.

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 manually when they are slightly overripe. They are then de-stemmed and vatted and fermentations are carried out until there is no residual sugar left at all. This explains their high alcohol volume.

The must is then pressed and racked into barrels where it will undergo an oxidative ageing for many years before being racked into a half-full tune which constitutes the Solera or "Perpetual Reserve". It will complete the part that was taken from the Solera during the year.

The wine sold in the CAP DE CREUS bottle is therefore a dry rancio wine coming from the Solera, which has been supplemented every year since 1968 with wines previously matured for several years in an oxidative way in oak barrels.