Domaine Fontarèche
“Just north of Lezignan-Corbières and situated in the middle of a perfect square of 200ha of land is the fourteenth century Château de Fontarèche, boasting a most illustrious history. One of the oldest estates in the Languedoc-Roussillon, it is first mentioned in an Act of 984. In 1201 the Archbishop of Narbonne had a fortress built on the site and vines are first referred to here as early as 1350. The property remained a part of the see of Narbonne until 1682, when it was bought by the Mignard family.

Since that purchase the estate has remained in the same hands, the current incumbents, the Lamy family, being direct descendants of the Mignards. The current owner, Jacques de Lamy took over from his father, the Count Edouard de Lamy, in 1957 and over 50 years completely restructured the vineyard and created a modern, well-equipped winery. Recently there have been some changes, with Arnaud de Lamy (who previously made the wine) taking up residence in America, working for J P Moueix. He has handed over the management of the estate to his brother, Edouard de Lamy, and the winemaking is now in the capable hands of Vincent Dubernet.

Of the 200ha which make up the property, 160ha are planted with vines, half appellation controlée and half vins de pays. The broad palette of terroirs allows for a large number of different varieties – 17 in total – each one corresponding to the appropriate soil type. Amongst them are cépages typical of the region – Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache – alongside more international varietals – Chardonnay, Viognier, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon....

The Vin de Pays de l´Aude Rouge is a blend of Grenache, Merlot and Alicante planted mainly on clay and gravelly-clay soils. The Vin de Pays Blanc is made from  Colombard. The 12 year old vines are planted on gravelly sand and the Viognier, of the same age, is on gravelly clay. There is now the new dual-varietal Carignan/Alicante, the former coming from vines of 55 to 65 years old planted on sandy, gravelly clay and the latter, 50 year old vines on clay. The low-yielding 20 to 30 year old Syrah vines, technically part of the AOC but bottled as varietal Vin de Pays, are found on the most prized terroir of the estate, silex, as are the three colours of Corbières: Rosé and vieilles vignes (40+ years) Blanc and Rouge.

Respect of each terroir is the philosophy which drives the work in the vineyards and it is therefore hardly surprising that the principals of lutte raisonnée and complete traceability have been applied to the estate for the past 15 years. In 2004, 11ha were given over to organic agriculture with a view eventually to converting the entire property.”