Lirac, Moon Apogé, Domaine des Carabiniers 2020 (organic)

This is a 50 ha estate on the west bank of the Rhône not far from Châteauneuf-du- Pape. It is owned by the Leperchois family who originally came from Italy and started growing grapes here in the 1930s.

In the 70s and 80s Christian Leperchois greatly extended the domaine, built a winery and started selling wine in bottle. In the 1990s the domaine converted to organic viticulture achieving Ecocert certification in 1997. In the 2000s Christian’s children – Magali and Fabien – took over, becoming the fifth generation to run the estate. They increased the domaine to its current size and started the conversion to biodynamic viticulture leading to Demeter certification in 2007. All 50 ha are worked biodynamically. The name of the estate dates from the time of the Pope’s residence at nearby Avignon when his mounted guards were known as Carabinieri and had stables on the site of the winery. This is commemorated by the horse logo of the domaine. The majority of the vineyards are in Côtes du Rhône with 23.5 ha, followed by Lirac with 17.5 ha, then 4 ha in Tavel and the balance in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Pays d’Oc. Winemaking uses natural yeasts, no additives and with as little sulphur as possible – small amounts are added at bottling to some products but the aim is to reduce it further. Grape varieties are the Rhône standards, mainly Grenache and Syrah.