Wine making process and the wines of Domain le Cazal

We produce a range of AOC Minervois Red Wines blended from three grape varieties that we cultivate : Carignan noir, Grenache noir & Syrah which produces young, fresh & fruity wines of great complexity that will benefit from being kept.

Cuvée Tradition
	AOC Minervois red wine Alcohol content : 12,5% vol Cuvée Tradition - Vintage 2007 May be drunk now or kept for 2yrs	price : 5,00 € per bottle

Cuvée Ambition
	AOC Minervois red wine Alcohol content : 14% vol Cuvée Ambition - Vintage 2006 This cuvée is aged in oak casks for 10 months May be drunk now or may be kept for 5 yrs	price : 6,50 € per bottle

Cuvée Le Pas de Zarat
	AOC Minervois red wine Alcohol content : 14% vol Cuvée Le Pas de Zarat - Vintage 2006 Cuvée aged in oak casks for 12 months Selected plots with yields of 30hl / ha May be drunk now or keep for 6 yrs	price : 12,00 € per bottle

Cuvée Délice du Vent
	AOC Minervois red wine Alcohol content : 13.5% vol Cuvée Délice du Vent - Vintage 2006 Selected plots with yields of 30hl / ha May be drunk in 1 yr or kept for 10 yrs	price : 20,00 € per bottle

The Grape varieties: Carignan is a grape rich in tannin, powerful & structured that gives aromas of spices & red fruits, which on ageing produces aromas of ripe fruits (prunes), toast & toasted almonds.
Grenache Noir has very concentrated sugars that produces wine that is rich in alcohol, fruity & of intense colour. Grenache is the basis of many vintage quality wines because of it’s structure & aromatic strength.
Syrah, originally from the Côtes du Rhône, was planted in the Minervois 20 years ago at the creation of AOC Minervois. It is a grape variety which produces low yields & which produces highly coloured quality wines with aromas of small red fruits, particularly the violet.
The Grape harvest: The different wines in our range are defined first of all by plot selection, that is to say that by tasting the grapes on each vine we can follow the stages of maturity (alcohol content, sugar level, acidity, aromas) in order to decide on the starting date of the grape harvest & to define a plan for the harvesting (which may change according to the weather & also the evolution of the maturity level of each plot).
From this, we are able to establish the order in which the vines, or the parts of the vines, are to be picked in order to predefine which are for which wine.
Picked by hand, transported in boxes, then brought into the vats on rolling conveyor belts (if necessary, a last grading before putting into the tank) ensures whole uncrushed grapes in the vats / tanks where they will be vinified by carbonic maceration.
Wine making process: The grapes of the three grape varieties are put into the tanks together (the percentage of each grape variety calculated by the number of boxes) to macerate for 10 – 15 days. This maceration produces a saturation of carbonic gas at an average temperature of 28° which permits the alcoholic & malolactic fermentations.
After this we employ our « ancestral » press (a vertical hydraulic press «chariots à cages ») which allows a slow extraction, by vertical pressure, of the total amount of juice remaining in the macerated marc.
The free run & the press juices are put into the maceration tank together, still saturated with carbon dioxide, to finish their alcoholic fermentation.
All this is done under the surveillance of our œnologue, Mr Benoît Huchin & his laboratory analyses (Laboratoire DUBERNET).
Maturing: Once the wine is finished (settling, aerated), we finally blend in order to establish the distinctive style of each of our different wines (first of all in test tube & then in the natural environment of the cellar).
The vintages that are matured in casks are transferred into 225 litre or 400 litre French oak casks from different coopers (medium heat).
The other vintages are matured in concrete vats & then in bottle.

Cuvée Tradition

Cuvée Ambition

Cuvée Le Pas de Zarat

Cuvée Délice du Vent