Winegrowers’ Portraits La Tour d'Aigue
Château La Dorgonne
Forerunner of Bio-active farming
Placed under the Belgian flag in 1999, Domaine La Dorgonne is the property of two families, Parmentier and Jolly. From the first year of acquisition, Bauduin Parmentier restructures the vineyard and creates the cellar. His nephew, Nicolas, joins him in 2005 to assist him, then succeed him. He then introduces organic vine growing and creates in 2006 walking paths across the domain. Forerunner of wine tourism, Château La Dorgonne produces on average 72,000 bottles a year and now sells 60% of its production to the visitors!
Located in Tour d’Aigues in Vaucluse, Château La Dorgonne stretches over 72 hectares all in one piece, dresses with a sea of vines, is lined with olive groves, increases with some pastures, owns a beautiful country house as Chateau and dry-stone buildings to house the cellars, offices and reception hall. It is settled within the natural reserve of Lubéron, very appreciated by the tourists. Yesterday this property had an agricultural vocation; since 1999, date of its acquisition, it has become a vineyard of 28 ha.
In 2000, Bauduin Parmentier, fond of good wines as big Belgian families are, pulls out and and re-plants 40% of the vineyard highlighting the main varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache Noir, Ugni Blanc, Merlot, Cinsault and Shiraz. He builds a cellar with stainless steel tanks, tuns and barrels. Law graduate, his nephew Nicolas, fond of nature and ecology, comes to assist him in 2005, then to succeed him. Together, Bauduin and Nicolas decide to farm the vineyard organically which will be certified in 2007. Their creed?
“A good wine depends for 80% on the work of the soil, for 20 % on the élevage in the cellar, where human action in the cellar must be minimal”. Loyal to their convictions, they develop a farming method Bio-Active to dynamize the terroir. Between the rows, they introduce cereals in winter and not less than sixteen varieties of grasses in summer. Legumes fix the nitrogen. Cereal have antibacterial virtues. Crucifereae and mustard favour the loosening and drainage of the soils … In spring all these plants are pinched and cut to the ground to preserve the rooting system and the mulch, obtained with the decomposition, recreated at the foot of the vine.
“This relevant farming method develops in-depth organic activity of the terroir and brings aromatic complexity to our wines”. Nicolas is very caring for his vineyard that he treats with Bordeaux mixture, sulfur and seaweeds. And does not hesitate, in the name of quality, to disbud, make green harvests, clear up and thin out the leaves to control the yields (on average 22 hecto/hectare). By reviving, the soils of Château La Dorgonne feed the vineyard which will naturally produce very aromatic wines. The wild grasses blossom again, and tits, nightingales re-enchant the place!
To share his craze, from 2005, Nicolas creates walking paths, from 45 minutes up to one and a half hour walking, for the visitors. Tourists are welcomed 7 days a week, 363 days a year, and receive free maps and explanatory leaflets deliciously illustrated for a good understanding of the vineyard, of its natural farming methods, the élevage in the cellar of its wines. In 2013 Château La Dorgonne welcomed 9,600 persons at the estate. The peak season spreads out from June 15th till September 15th.
All the vineyard’s players, all the employees of the cellar have been trained to kindly inform the visitor who, charmed, will fill the safe of their car with AOC Côtes de Lubéron, Exception du Terroir 2009, the mono-varietal Shiraz; of Rouge Château, a blend of Shiraz and Grenache; or of local wines Pinot 2009, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Merlot 2008.
Forerunner of wine tourism, Nicolas explains:
“We fight to give the Château La Dorgonne visibility, brightness to our brand, in the name of quality. Everything is produced on spot with passion. Everything is hand-made: pruning, the treatments, the green or yearly harvest, the sorting. Man’s eye and palate decide on the maturity and on the picking. No compensation in the cellar at La Dorgonne.
Our red wines with their finesse and their delicacy, their fruit, their volume and their length, their material, their structure, their round and silky tannins are our pride. They are crafted as blend wines or monovarietal ones (Shiraz, Merlot).
They all mature in wood, age in conical oak tanks of 80 to 100 hectos during a month, then are racked and stored in barrels for 16 to 28 months according to the cuvée. Here, maturation in wood refines our grape varieties, softens them. But also confers a lovely round structure. They are wines worth ageing.The first years, these red wines develop woody notes, then they express their fruitiness, their minerality, their complexity and some go as far as developing aromas of liquorice and tobacco. We are a young vineyard and we sell our wines too young. They would deserve to be laid down some ten years in the cellar. For the 100% Merlot cuvée (3,000 bottles only), another bias: we collect the grape over-ripe to make the cuvée exuberant, excessive. This wine of pleasure will reveal in the year its charms with spicy, even saffron-flavoured, cuisine. The red wines of the Domain express our know-how, our intuitions, our desires.” They seduce movie stars like Josiane Balasko, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt or Romain Duris, literature figures like Bernard Pivot, editors like Jean-Claude Lattès, by their moreish character, but also their open-book craft side. These
beautiful people also discover there, in the luxury shop of the chateau, home-made regional specialties such as chickpea cream and tapenade, peach jam with verbena, pears with chocolate, golden greengages, but also black olive jam, pickled figs, red pepper bell chutney…
The estate is also expert in organizing activities over wine and a table. The rosé party is a very much attended annual event at Château La Dorgonne. To make original food and wine pairings, Nicolas Parmentier invites great chefs of the region, like Eric Sapet of
La Petite House in Cucuron or Jean-Jacques Prévôt of Cavaillon, to concoct dishes emphasizing the delectable rosé of Château La Dorgonne. Interested? Ask for the programme ...
Marie-Caroline Bourrellis
Château la Dorgonne
Route de Mirabeau – D135
84240 La Tour d'Aigues - France
Tél. : + 33 (0) 4 90 07 50 18 www.chateauladorgonne.com
