Domaine Léon Barral

The winery is located in the municipality of Cabrerolles in the Département of Hérault in the French region of Languedoc. In 1992, the brothers Didier and Lean-Luc Barral took over the vineyards from their father Léon. Didier Barral in particular is considered one of the pioneers of the so-called "vin naturel". The aim is to produce high-quality wines with a clear terroir character in the Faugères Appellation. According to the philosophy "Man can only work successfully with nature in the long run, never against it", the vineyard is cultivated strictly according to the rules of biodynamic viticulture. New plots are cleared and then left to grazing animals or to themselves for ten years to recover. The vines are raised in low bushes on extremely loosened up soils. In spring, donkeys, pigs, cows and horses graze in the vineyards, eating the shoots of the grapes. They take over, so to speak, the pruning and in a natural way the fertilization of the soil. The soils are worked with specially constructed ploughing machines. An ingenious irrigation system provides the necessary water supply. No pesticides of any kind are used.

The vineyards cover 30 hectares of vines, some of which are very old, up to 90 years old and older. The red wine varieties Carignan, Cinsaut, Grenache Noir, Lladoner Pelut, Mourvèdre and Syrah are cultivated, as well as the white wine varieties Viognier, Terret Blanc, Terret Gris and Roussanne. The selective vintage is carried out at the best possible ripeness (not overripe), the grapes are then sorted. They are partly destemmed, but also processed as a whole. The pressing is done with a traditional ancient basket press. In principle, spontaneous fermentation is used. The maceration of the red wines lasts three to four weeks with constant bâtonnage(stirring) in wooden vats. Each vineyard plot is vinified separately in small containers, without any incriminating intervention and with a minimum of sulphur. Depending on the type of wine, natural ageing takes place in steel tanks, cement tanks or barriques. The product range includes various AOC Faugères wines such as "Jadis" and "Valinières". The wines are bottled without filtration.