Domaine Giroflet, Murielle and Laurent Girault

Domaine Giroflet is the story of two trained oenologists, Murielle and Laurent Girault, both of whom come from families of winegrowers going back many generations. They grew up surrounded by vineyards: Laurent in the Cognac region and Murielle a stone’s throw from Béziers. This is why they decided to set up their own estate, and the adventure began in 2003. On land well-suited to Grenache Noir, their favourite grape variety, they found a few hectares near Pézenas. Today they cultivate 3 hectares of vines, growing no fewer than 10 grape varieties from which they produce 6 wines. As a certified organic vineyard, they use no weedkillers, chemical fertilisers or synthetic pesticides. All grapes are harvested by hand into small 8-kg crates to minimise crushing of the berries. Vinification is carried out using minimal amounts of sulphites.

The terroir of the Villafranchian terraces

This type of Quaternary soil is a mixture of rounded pebbles (gravel) and a high proportion of red clay. These elements thus lend several characteristics to this terroir, notably its red colour, its ability to dry out quickly (draining excess water) thanks to the gravel, but also its good water-holding capacity thanks to the clay. This terroir of Villafranchian terraces is particularly well-suited to the expression of Grenache, the favourite grape variety of the Giroflet estate.

Domaine Giroflet, in the vineyard

In certified organic cultivation, no weedkillers or chemical fertilisers are used. Every spring, a tractor fitted with a scarifier is driven through the rows to remove the vegetation left to grow beneath the vines over the winter. This is done to prevent competition between the weeds and the vines (water is scarce and precious in the region). Furthermore, the grass at the base of the vines can trap moisture (in the mornings in spring) and thus encourage mildew.

Another important stage that can only be carried out manually is bud thinning. This involves removing all duplicate buds as well as the shoots on the vine. This step reduces the harvest
by around 40%!

Across the 2.8 hectares of the Giroflet estate, there are 11 different grape varieties:

• White: Chardonnay, Viognier, Roussane, Petit Manseng, Petit Arvine, Chenin and Picpoul
• Red: Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Counoise

All the grapes are picked and sorted by hand into small crates weighing around 8kg.

Domaine Giroflet, at the winery

When the grapes arrive at the winery, they are not crushed and are in perfect condition.

The white grapes are harvested as they ripen and then pressed directly in a small press, whole bunches at a time. This is done slowly, ensuring that the first juices to emerge from the press are crystal-clear. They are transferred to a vat for an initial settling stage, to ensure the juice is as clear as possible, at a temperature of 12°C for 24 hours. The clear juice is then transferred to a stainless steel tank to ferment at a temperature of 19°C. Fermentation takes place slowly over a period of more than three weeks, resulting in an expressive, distinctive white wine with lovely complexity.

The red grapes are also harvested by hand. The grapes go straight from the crates into the destemmer and then into the maceration vat. The red grape harvest takes place over a period of six weeks, depending on the ripeness of the grapes and the type of wine being produced. All these stages are carried out using gravity alone. A ‘pige’ – a wooden handle with a stainless steel disc at the end – is used to gently extract the tannins, anthocyanins and juice from the berries. This type of extraction is gentle, which is why the wines have fine, silky tannins.

After fermentation, the wines are transferred either to stainless steel vats or to demi-muids (600-litre barrels) for ageing periods of varying lengths, depending on the profile of the cuvée. No fining agents or additives are used, apart from a small amount of sulphites, always in minimal quantities. The wines may have a slight sediment, which will in no way affect the taste.

A few photos of the Giroflet estate