Domaine La Grange english

Prat Bibal - our most beautiful vineyard

Prat Bibal the most beautiful vineyard of La Grange; it looks like an ancient green amphitheater.

In this vineyard we harvest the grapes for our red wine Tadition Prat Bibal (called the black sheep).

The Prat Bibal vineyard is not only beautiful, it is also exemplary from an environmental point of view. It is surrounded by hedgerows and olive groves, where insects and birds abound. They protect our grapes in a very natural way by simply eating pests and pollinating the flowers of the grapes in spring.

The soil at Prat Bibal is a colorful mosaic of different rocks, which were shaken up by the Cadablès volcano directly opposite the winery ages ago. This diversity of the soil is the prerequisite for us to make quite complex, exciting wines at La Grange, such as our Prat Bibal.

La Grange is favored by nature, a true paradise!

An interview with helping hands from Germany

Thank you Lars and Marcus for helping with the harvest at La Grange. What were your first impressions?

Marcus: This was the first time that we helped with the harvest, so we didn't know what to expect. In the morning, when the vineyards are still shady, work was easy.
At noon, in the full sun, things looked differently all of a sudden. It's really hard work. Hats off to the people who have to do this all the time.

Lars: When I was introduced as the the boss's son-in-law conversations stopped for a couple of minutes. When it became clear that I don't speak french, everyone was happy to start talking again. At the end of the working day we shared what little french or german we all knew - very much to the amusement of everybody.

Marcus: Of course we didn't have any food with us because we didn't know lunch takes place in the vineyards. But they all shared their food with us. We really appreciated that.

Renate: Did you learn something new?
Lars and Marcus: Until now we only drank wine and never really thought much about 'winemaking'. During our holiday we followed the process from grape to fermentation for the very first time. It's impressive how much physical work is necessary for the last stages. After observing that you look at a bootle of wine with different eyes.

Renate: Are you in for the next harvest?
Both: Of course! Maybe even for a prolonged period of time, now that we know how things work.
Renate: What are your favorite wines?
Lars and Marcus: Castalides Réserve and Prat Bibal Tradition

Old vineyard

We have been wanting to integrate a very old and overgrown vineyard right next to our Syrah for a long time. At last our neighbor answered our supplications and sold this wild piece of land. Our employee Pierre-Yves still knew the grape variety from the old times: it's Aramon, an old variety that went completely out of fashion.

It likely came from Spain and and used to be the dominant grape variety in Languedoc. You could say it was every winemaker's favorite because it had an extraordinarily high yield. Exactly the right variety for the mass-produced wines that Languedoc was known for back then.

The sixties saw Aramon declining bit by bit because Languedoc, too, started to look more for quality than for quantity. Today the preferred varieties are Carignan, Mourvèdre, Merlot and Cabernet, grape varieties that we, too, grow at La Grange.

These remaining old veterans will have to go come spring. They will be replaced by Syrah. Not everything that's old is automatically good.

The drama of buying new vineyards

AOP Pézenas is one of the youngest Grands Crus in France. Some of our best vineyards are part of this AOP. Because we would like to buy more vineyards belonging to AOP Pézenas, Rolf has been tirelessly searching for more vineyards to buy.

This quest is not always easy because some winemakers don't live in the region anymore and haven't cared for their vineyards in ages. Some don't want to sell, especially not to a German. And others still share their three hectares with three other family members, a result of the unfortunate division of estates in case of heritage. So one cousin has to be called in Paris and nobody has been talking to the cousin twice removed in three years... Family dramas unfolding right before our eyes.

A big help in the search for new plots of land is our employee Pierre-Yves. He knows the region inside out and has the best tips for Rolf, including suggestions on how to get to the vineyard in question (they are not always easy to find): 'When you get to that road you have to turn... right behind... you'll see...' It's always fun to watch those two gesticulate.

And when you search long and persistently enough, you eventually find what you have been looking for: We have been able to buy an additional five hectares (unfortunately the land is not entirely part of AOP Pézenas) and we have right of preemption on three more hectares. La Grange is ever moving forward. We're not even afraid of family dramas!

Gold medal for La Grange Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

The portugese know what's good. They awarded a gold medal to our La Grange Cabernet Sauvignon 2013.

It was for the first time that Portugal hosted the wine competition 'Portugal Wine Trophy'. The venue of this international competition was the picturesque cultural park 'BOEIRA' near the city of Porto, well worth a visit if you ever travel to Portugal.

The grapes for our Cabernet Sauvignon come from a vineyard directly behind our winery and that we planted only five years ago.

2013 was the first year we harvested these grapes and the quality of the grapes is fantastic - as the gold medal proves.

Visitors from Leipzig

The Koscholleks from Leipzig came to visit us at La Grange. On a tour through our vineyards they received a crash course about wine.

Mister Koschollek sells our La Grange wines very successfully in his shop 'Getränke Staude' in Leipzig.

After the tour through our vineyards with expert guidance by Rolf he now knows everything there is to know about La Grange wines.

Garrique – the typical landscape around La Grange

All our vineyards are nestled into the Garrigue, the typical landscape in Languedoc. It's made of shrubs like gorse, prickly holm oaks, rosemary, thyme, juniper and the occasional olive or fig tree.

In spring everything is in bloom and the Garrigue is magnificent to behold. During the summer months it's tantalising fragrances waft through our vineyards.

The Garrigue is not only beautiful, though. It also provides shelter to a wide variety of animals that naturally protect our vineyards. Every once in a while wild boars inspect and admire our vineyards, too,  something we appreciate a little less.

If you would like to read more about the Garrigue, try out this article on Wikipedia.

Old vines

Look at these disheveled, gnarly old guys! These are 60 year old Carignan Vines in our Combelles Vineyard. At the moment they are waiting for their new spring 'haircut'. Our oldest vines grow in Combelles.

They are more than 60 years old. And as it goes with the elderly, they are stubborn and have a distinct character. That's why our premium Castalides wines are made from these vines. The grapes have to be hand-picked and the old vines yield very little, but it's definitely worth the effort!

Dry stone walls at La Grange

If you take a walk through the vineyards here at La Grange the picturesque old dry stone walls will surely catch your eye. What looks romantic to us today is the result of a lot of painstaking work.

The region was poor and the soil rather barren and stony. People - mostly kids - used to pick up the stones to work them into the dry stone walls, built completely without mortar. Once the soil in one field was clear of stones, the farmers started to plant and grow cereals and wine. Birds, lizards, butterflies and creepers find shelter in these old dry stone walls, who are thus conducive to a uniquely rich flora and fauna in and around our vineyards.

Experts also start to understand that these old walls are very important to the ecological equilibrium of these old vineyards.

When we first arrived at La Grange we found strange indentations in some parts of the walls. At first, we didn't know what to make of them, but they were built for a reason. François, one of our team, explained to us that shepherds used to find respite from the sharp winter winds in these indentations.

The little houses around these indentations gave shelter to the farmhands and gave them a place where they could put their tools. During harvest the farmhands slept in these little houses, because the fields had to be watched even at night. Theft was common in those days. During summer the shepherds trekked to the Vosges. The paths they used can still be found today.

Old Table at La Grange

The organization 'Old Tablers Germany' is present in many german cities, Bielefeld included. If you would like to read more about this organization and it's goals, you can visit their website.

A little while ago they travelled to La Grange, curious about the winery and it's grounds. A total of 18 friends from Old Table 71 Bielefeld came to visit us and enjoyed Rolf's expertly conducted guided tour through the vineyards.

But a guided tour through the vineyards was by no means all we did together. The medieval town of St. Guilhelm le Désert, Pézenas and Carcassonne were just some of the sights in the vicinity of La Grange that we visited together. The most important part of the journey though was a picnic at the beach with good food and a good wine from La Grange of course.

We would like to thank our visitors and hope they had as much fun as we did.