AOC Languedoc-Roussillon, AOC Côtes du Rhône,
AOC Provence, Vins de Pays, Customized wines

CHÂTEAU HAUT-BLANVILLE

Château Haut-Blanville is a brand of Blanville, a 65 hectares wine estate created by Béatrice and Bernard Nivollet, including 47 hectares of vines and producing around 170,000 bottles of great "appellation contrôlée" (AOC) and "vin de pays" (VDP) Terroir wines (with an average yield of less than 35 hectoliters per hectare) Out of this production, 70,000 bottles are part of the Château Haut-Blanville Wine list.

A 300 years old vine estate.

Château Rieutort is a 300 vears old wine estate located in Saint Pargoire (Languedoc - France), close to Pézenas and along the Hérault River. In 1997 Béatrice & Bernard Nivollet bought the winery and completely refurbished it, while they restructured the vineyard.

Key features about Blanville

3 vineyards totalling 47 hectares on 3 différent Terroirs : LES PEYRALS, RIEUTORT and LES CHARMES.

- Les Peyrals (AOC), located among the Mediterranean shrubs on a plateau overlooking the sea and the Etang de Thau, at an altitude of 100 meters, made of dry limestone and red glacial soils, very stony and well-drained, in the heart of a surrounding garrigues.

- Les Charmes (AOC), located at an altitude of 80 meters on a hill overlooking the Cévennes mountains, made of gravels soils, in the midst of green oaks, cistes, thymand and sariette.

- Rieutort (V'DP), located downhill the Mediterranean shrubs, close to the Hérault River and overlooking the Parc du Haut-Languedoc, made of sandy and profound soils, with grass planted between the wine ranks.

The cultivation standards implemented are based upon the "lutte raisonnée" principles, an ecological approach to cultivation best of breed of ancestral and modern and scientific methods. At the core of the approach is a permanent and very careful observation of the vineyard condition, to avoid any needless treatment, coupled with the use of natural ingredients to preserve the characteristics of the soils and terroirs.

All the necessary actions to control the yields and insure the best maturation of the grapes are implemented along the year : severe cut, heavy pruning, high trellising with twin, wires, topping, thinning out the leaves, climination of the grapes formed from the second flowering.

The vinification is donc on a parcel by parcel basis. The duration of the maceration process, generally long, is carefully monitored based on the characteristics of the grapes and varies according to the vintage and to the type of grape.

The wines are aged in French oak barrels, with a good balance between new and old and new barrels, which again is différent from one type of grape to another one. The ageing in barrels lasts from 9 to 18 months, depending on the grape and parcel. At the end of this phase, the juices are blended to create the wines, and aged for another 2 to 6 months in tank. This allows for a perfect and natural decantation of the wine, so that the vines bottled are not filtered, thus preserving their aromatic power and body. The wine is generally aged for another 3 months in bottles before being marketed.