Monastere de Solan

Established in La Bastide-d'Engras, in the Gard, the Orthodox community of the Monastery of Solan has since November 1991 occupied an agricultural property where generations of growers and winegrowers have succeeded one another. Placed under the Protection of the Mother of God, the monastery continues a foundation born in the Vercors in 1978 around Father Placide Deseille. Mother Hypandia is now its abbess.

The estate forms a mosaic of 40 hectares of forest and 20 hectares of cultivable land, of great natural richness despite the poor soils, with a vegetable garden, orchards and an olive grove planted in 2005-2006. This setting led to organic polyculture. Organic farming has been practiced there since the community's arrival in 1992, and is certified by Ecocert. The soil is enriched as needed with manure and composted grape marc; weeding is mechanical and vine protection relies on sulfur and copper, in controlled doses, combined with plant extracts.

The vineyard extends over the eastern foothill of the crystalline massif of the Cévennes and over the northern anticline of the Tave. Parent rocks follow one another there over widths of 5 to 50 metres, with slopes that can reach 45°, and geological maps show only variable soils there, marly or limestone, or sandy over sandstone. The sisters have therefore identified in the field four main terroirs, on five hectares of old vines thirty-five to forty-five years old divided among four grape varieties, supplemented by three hectares of recent plantings and three new grape varieties.

The harvest is manual, in small crates, with sorting in the plot. Vinification is done by micro-plot, in separate vats, to adapt the maceration time to each vat; yields do not exceed 55 hl/ha, often close to 35 hl/ha. The winery, built in stone blocks from the Pont du Gard, is semi-buried and has no concrete slab under the barrels. True to the Burgundian tradition of the 'terroir hunters', the estate works by blending, each blend corresponding to a cuvée whose proportions vary according to the vintage; the Sainte Catherine cuvée, IGP Cévennes, is thus aged for six months in barrels, made from Vermentino.

The forest environment and hedgerows maintain biodiversity, and the forest, restored since 1996, is part of the Natura 2000 network. The monastery also welcomes visitors who come to attend the liturgical celebrations.