Domaine Grand Guilhem
Domaine Grand Guilhem is a family-run, artisanal estate of 8.8 hectares, located above Cascastel-des-Corbières, a winegrowing village of around 200 inhabitants in the “Vallée du Paradis”, in the heart of Cathar country. Séverine and Gilles Contrepois cultivate vines there using organic farming, certified since 2004, and produce wines that adhere to the “méthode nature” charter: manual harvesting, indigenous yeasts, no added sulfites or a maximum of thirty milligrams per litre, and no other inputs.
The climate is Mediterranean, with very dry air, an average annual temperature of 15 °C and 339 days of sunshine per year. The vines grow on ancient schists of primary massifs—filtering, aerated and lean—on terraces and steep slopes of the upper Fitou, in an intimate landscape of small plots. They are trained in gobelet, the pruning system best suited to the Midi: the foliage provides shade, the load per arm is lower and the sap travels a shorter distance to the bunches. The vine shoots are crushed and return humus to the soil.
With the abandonment of chemical fertilizers, acidity levels have risen. All synthetic chemical products are prohibited—no herbicides or insecticides—with only sulfur and copper used for treatments; the entire vineyard is under organic production, controlled by Ecocert.
In the cellar, the destemmer and crusher are manual, maceration lasts four weeks for Pas Pareil and pressing is done in a single pass with a ratchet press. This red blends 55% Grenache Noir, 30% Carignan and 15% Syrah, from vines averaging around 70 years old. ‘On est si bien’ is based on Mourvèdre, complemented by Grenache Noir and Syrah.
Two cuvées stand out. Angels comes from a plot planted in 1892 with Carignan and Grenache, vinified entirely in barrel, with no more than 1,500 bottles per vintage. Le Pointilliste, aged in jars, combines Syrah, Grenache Noir and Macabeu; it also exists as a white macerated in jars, called Orange.
Details gathered from the estate's website and public sources, for information only.
Wines
Details gathered from the estate's website and technical sheets, in French, for information only.
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