About Domaine de Saü/Château de Saü

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Established in 1846 in the heart of the Têt Valley, just outside Thuir, Chateau de Saü has always owned vineyards but didn’t begin bottling its wine until fourth-generation owner Hervé Passama and his wife Béatrice returned to the estate in 1986. Producing a full range of wines under both the Chateau de Saü and Domaine de Saü rubrics—the Passamas completed conversion to organic viticulture in 2006—the estate is most prized for its spicy, alluring Rivesaltes ambré and, more recently, for its Rancio sec, produced during the last years of Hervé’s life. Grapes for both the Rivesaltes and Rancio sec are Grenache gris, harvested by hand from a small 1.9-hectare vineyard of 70-year old goblet vines. Following fermentation and a week-long maceration, elevage is undertaken in a former horse stable situated behind the chateau, a truly special place for the rearing of oxidative wines. The wines are kept in used 225-liter Bordelais fûts, stacked twos and threes, and year-by-year they concentrate and develop the rich texture and notable rancio character that is a hallmark of their elevage. With Hervé’s passing in 2014, Béatrice has retired and the vines have been rented, leaving these wines the last testament of one of the great terroirs for aged, oxidative wines.
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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.