BACK TO THE ROOTS
We have named this wine retour aux racines : back to the roots, because the roots play a very special role for it.
THE ROOTS
In the Corbières, water is a scarce resource. Sometimes there is no rain for months. But nature is inventive, if you let it be. Our Carignan vines are up to 100 years old. The roots are estimated to go down to a depth of up to 100 metres. There they are supplied with moisture and in the different soil layers with nutrients and minerals. The yields are small, but the complexity of the soil makes the wine so complex, fine and elegant.
THE VITICULTURE
retour aux racines : back to the roots also refers to the cultivation and ageing of this wine. We practice organic viticulture. The grapes are picked and sorted by hand and we use only our own natural yeasts for fermentation.
And we let retour aux racines : back to the roots mature in clay amphorae. Ageing in amphorae is the most ancient way of making wine. An important factor here is the oxygen that a wine needs to breathe and mature. While steel tanks are hermetically sealed systems, amphorae definitely let air through. This allows the wine to mature intensively, similar to barriques. Thus, the original flavours are not affected or even overlaid by wood tones.
retour aux racines : back to the roots is vinified by Axel Wulfken and Jérôme Estève on the 20-hectare family vineyard Château Montfin. It is located in the Corbières, idyllically situated next to the Mediterranean Sea at Peyriac-de-Mer.
THE LABEL
retour aux racines : back to the roots is also a personal journey back in time, if not to say back to the roots. Axel Wulfken began to study wine intensively while studying at the the Sorbonne in Paris. What initially began as a passion, he then turned into his profession. Initially, he was a manager at Moët & Chandon. Since 2009, he has been creating and producing his own wines and crémants together with his French partners.
