ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Domaine Rière Cadène
Domaine Rière Cadène is a thirty-hectare family estate nestled in the Roussillon, between the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees Mountain Range, on the outskirts of Perpignan. Laurence and Jean-François Rière currently run the domaine, purchased in 1904 by their great-grandfather, an optician. Their initial plan was to grow flowers; they applied their horticulture background to growing vines and making wine. Their first batch was produced in 1994, in a series of ninety-year-old concrete tanks. Through the years, they modernized the winery and extended their vineyards from the Têt valley into the Agly valley. In 2015, they were joined by their nephew Guillem, who trained in Burgundy. Their goal is to produce elegant wines of great richness and complexity.
The vineyards are spread over two distinct terroirs: the schist soils of the Agly valley, and the rounded pebbles of the Têt valley. The white varieties (Macabeu, Grenache blanc, Vermentino, Roussanne, and Viognier) are grown in the Agly Valley, where the soil gives birth to wines with tension and freshness. The red varieties (Syrah, Grenache) are planted in the Têt valley; there, the sea deposited layers of sediment for millions of years, dragging rocks from the Pyrenees as it withdrew. These eroded into the distinctive rounded pebbles strewn across terraces, with deep clay adding moisture so that the vines mature slowly and gradually, yielding very high-quality grapes which result in fruity wines of roundness and amplitude. The vineyards face east, and benefit from the influence of the Mediterranean, only a few kilometers away. They are classified as AOP Côtes du Roussillon Villages.
Farming practices: certified organic. The only active ingredients used are sulphur and copper. Organic fertilizers are used in the vineyards, along with cover crops. The sulfites added are minimal.
Their initial plan was to grow flowers; they applied their horticulture background to growing vines and making wine. Their first batch was produced in 1994, in a series of ninety-year-old concrete tanks.
