About Domaine Jorel

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Manuel Jorel established his tiny domain in 2000 on the western edge of the upper Agly Valley in Roussillon. He began with the purchase of a few parcels of very old-vine Macabeu in Maury and has slowly expanded his holdings to include old-vine Grenache and Carignan, as well as Mourvèdre, Malvosie (Tourbat) and Muscat de Alexandria in neighboring Lesquerde. The vineyards now stand at just seven hectares; everything is done "by hand." Jorel vinifies the wine in the converted cellars below his adoptive home, a former grocer’s shop down the narrow Rue Arago in Saint-Paul-de Fenouillet, west of Maury. While the thoughtful and humble Jorel eschews such terms, production is "organic" and farmed with the belief that minimal inputs, both in the vineyard and in the cellar, result in the highest-quality wines. His 2003 "La Garrique" Rancio sec is a testament to that approach.
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About Côtes Catalanes IGP

One of the most dynamic IGPs in the greater Languedoc-Roussillon wine region, the Côtes Catalanes IGP encompasses nearly all of the Pyrénées-Orientales administrative départment and most of its appellations: Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon-Villages; Grand Roussillon; Maury and Maury sec; Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes. (The diminutive Banyuls and Collioure AOPs are covered by Côte Vermeille IGP.) The climate is Mediterranean, but the terroir itself is quite varied: dark schist, granite, gneiss and clay-limestone soils along its northern slopes; dry, garrigue-scented clay, sand and gravel on the plains around Perpignan. Temperatures, some of France’s most extreme, are moderated by maritime influence and the proximity of the snow-capped Pyrénées. The best hillside slopes cool considerably at night, retaining acidity and freshness in the grapes. Under the Côtes Catalanes IGP, independent vignerons and cooperatives produce mono-varietal expressions (e.g., Domaine Jorel Carignan ‘Male Care’) not currently endorsed under existing AOPs, as well as wines from international varieties (Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon) that have increasingly found favor amongst some growers and cooperatives. Ironically, the region’s most traditional wine, Rancio Sec - unfortified and fully-oxidized - is also its rarest and falls under the auspices of the Côtes Catalanes (and Côte Vermeille) IGP.