AOC CABARDES

APPELLATION AREA 
There are no less than six rivers irrigating the slopes of this amphitheatre built right up against the Montagne Noire. Facing south, this area dominates the city of Carcassonne.

GEOLOGY
The Cabardès slopes, along the Fresquel and the Trapel, are covered with limestone rocks helping to keep the ground cool. Moving up the hills, the principal stone is granite, then schist and gneiss.

CLIMATE
Exposed to easterly and westerly winds, this area is the meeting place of two climates, the soft influence of the Atlantic and the heat of the Mediterranean. These soils are at between 100 and 350 m above sea level. 

GRAPES
40 % minimum of Atlantic grapes: Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet franc,
40 % minimum of Mediterranean grapes: Syrah, Grenache 20 % maximum of Cot, Fer Servadou and Cinsault. 

VINIFICATION
Red wines: this wine strives for subtlety and concentration using long wine production processes followed by a complex assemblage.

KEY FIGURES 
400 ha of vineyards
5 cooperative wine producers
25 private wine producers 

Average yield 
45 hl/hectare
Production 
18 000 hl 
90% red
10% rosé 
90% is sold at property or château and bottled on site

Sales 
18 000 hl
(storehouse outputs 2005/06) 
Export : 9 000 hl

Source CIVL