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Technical Information

Wine Blend Vine Age Soil Type Vineyard Area*
IGP Pays de l’Aude Rosé
1/3 Grenache, 1/3 Carignan, 1/3 Mourvèdre Grenache & Carignan: 75 years, Mourvèdre: 40 years Limestone, Marl, Schist 10 ha total
IGP Pays de l’Aude Rouge “Chasse-Filou”
Grenache Noir > 50 years Clay, Limestone 10 ha total
Fitou “Cadette”
1/3 Grenache Noir, 1/3 Carignan, 1/3 Mourvèdre > 50 years Limestone, Marl, Schist 10 ha total
Fitou “Dennis Royal”
Carignan > 75 Years Limestone, Marl, Schist 10 ha total
Fitou “Atsuko”
Grenache Noir > 75 years Limestone, Marl, Schist 10 ha total
Fitou “Les Vendangeurs de la Violette”
Mourvèdre 34 years Limestone, Marl, Schist 10 ha total
IGP Pays de l’Aude Blanc “Le Pied des Nymphettes”
70% Carignan Blanc, 20% Grenache Blanc, 2% Vermentino, 2% Malvoisie, 2% Clairette, 2% Colombard, 2% Macabeu 30 - 40 years Clay, Limestone 10 ha total
IGP Pays de l’Aude Blanc Muscat Sec
Muscat à petit grains 30 - 40 years Clay, Limestone 10 ha total
Vin Doux Naturel Muscat de Rivesaltes
Muscat à petit grains 30 - 40 years Limestone, Schist 10 ha total
Vin Doux Naturel Rivesaltes
Grenache Gris > 50 years Limestone, Schist 10 ha total
Vin Doux Naturel “Noir de Grenache”
Grenache Noir > 100 years Limestone, Schist 10 ha total
* "ha" = hectares; one hectare equals roughly two and a half acres

VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION

• Hand-harvested
• All wines de-stemmed
• Fermentation with indigenous yeasts in open top tanks
• Reds aged for 18 months in tank and bottle
• Whites are aged for 6 months on lees and in bottle

IGP Pays de l’Aude Rosé:
• Only made in great years
• Sourced from the Atsuko, Dennis Royal, and Les Vendangeures de la Violette vineyards
• Direct press
• Sometimes undergoes malolactic fermentation
• Fermented in small resin tanks

Fitou “Atsuko”:
• Only produced in exceptional vintages

Fitou “Les Vendangeurs de la Violette”:
• Vines are selection massale

IGP Pays de l’Aude Blanc “Le Pied des Nymphettes”:
• No malolactic fermentation
• Fermented in small resin tanks

Vin Doux Naturel Rivesaltes:
• Aged 5 years in Cognac barrels

MISCELLANEA

Explaining the names of the wines from Domaine Les Mille Vignes

IGP Pays de l'aude Rouge “Chasse-Filou”
Chasser means to chase in French. Filou is a dated term one could loosely translate to villain but also, more affectionately, rascal. So, literally it's a rascal-chaser. This is inspired by a text by French poet, writer, songwriter Boris Vian from 1956, called La Complainte du Progrès. In this song Vian creates names for imaginary household tools and Chasse-Filou is (from what Valérie tells me) the one used to chase the "Filou" who comes to see Madame when Monsieur is not around... It is also a play on words with the appellation Fitou as this wine, labeled as a IGP, has chased the “Fitou” from its appellation.

Fitou “Cadette”
A wink to Valérie’s younger sister (in French "cadet/cadette" is often used instead of "plus jeune" to describe the age difference between siblings).

Fitou “Les Vendangeurs de la Violette”
This wine comes from the original parcel of the domaine, planted with 1000 vines, hence the domaine's name. There are wild violets growing all around the parcel. The staff of the domaine and a group of friends, not hired harvesters, has always done the picking for this parcel. So the cuvée name is a reference to the violets growing in the vineyard and an homage to the people harvesting the grapes.

Fitou “Atsuko”
In the late 1990s a group of Japanese diplomats living in France discovered Mille Vignes and asked if they could come visit. Valérie’s father Jacques lead the diplomats and their wives on a tour of the domaine and the vineyards and a tasting of the wines. The delegation was lead by the second in command of the Japanese embassy in Paris. He came back in early 2000 and asked Jacques why he didn't make a 100% Grenache cuvée. Jacques liked the idea a lot and made the first Atsuko from the 2000 harvest. All of the fruit comes from one parcel of old Grenache wines (about 60 years old at the time). To thank the Japanese diplomat for his good idea, the cuvée was named after his wife, Atsuko. It means “Blossoming Cherry Tree” in Japanese, which also works nicely with the aromas of fresh, ripe cherry Grenache the wine sometimes shows. In order to maintain the exceptional character of this cuvée, it is only produced in exceptional years for Grenache and always in small quantities (2000 - 2600 bottles). After the initial vintage, there was no Atsuko until 2007. Since then, there have been considerably more good vintages for Grenache (all of them, actually), so Atsuko has been produced more regularly but still at a maximum of about 200 cases.

Fitou “Dennis Royal”
The name is an homage to a close American friend of the Guérin family who passed away: Dennis Royal Clark. He first met Jacques Guérin 7 years ago when he was looking into buying a domaine in France and Jacques helped him with advice as to what was worth his investment or not. DR Clark never ended up buying a domaine as whatever he and Jacques visited didn’t live up to Jacques’ standards when it came to the quality and state of the vineyards, so instead, DR Clark bought a house in the village of La Palme, where Mille Vignes is located. He and his wife have since participated in each harvest at Mille Vignes until Dennis’ passing. When it was time to find a name for this new Carignan-dominated cuvée Valérie felt it was only appropriate to honor the US, and an American friend, after having honored Japan with the Atsuko. People have jokingly started calling this “the DRC from Mille Vignes,” even though Valérie chose to omit the “Clark” in the cuvée name.

IGP Pays de l’Aude Blanc “Le Pied des Nymphettes”
The nymphettes’ foot
Jacques had decided that punch-downs on this cuvée would be done by foot and by girls – “des jolies filles.” The cuvée name is an homage to them.

General Information

Country
France
Region
Languedoc-Roussillon
Appellation(s)
Fitou, Rivesaltes, Muscat de Rivesaltes, Vin de Pay de l’Aude
Producer
Jacques Guérin, Valérie Guérin
Founded
1979
Annual Production
1,000 cases
Farming
Organic (practicing)
Website
http://www.lesmillevignes.fr/
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