Côtes du Roussillon
Appellation d’Origine Protégée
In 2003 The Côtes du Roussillon Les Apres were granted an AOP. The wines on this region are produced in 37 communes of Aspres and Albères from selected parcels, and the vineyards spans over 118 communes in the Eastern Pyrenees and covers 12 000 acres.
It is a vast land limited on the by the Mediterranean on the east, by the Albères mountain range and Spain on the South, the foothills of the Canigou on the West and the Corbières on the North. There are three rivers that cross this area – the Agly, the Têt and the Tech – that supply water to the vineyards and have carved the land into hills and stacked terraces.
The varieties of Grenache grown in this region are: Noir (Red), Blanc (White) and Gris (Grey)
The wines from Côtes du Roussillon les Aspres are produced from selected parcels of land with fine, gravel soils in altitudes from 0 to 250 meters.
In the Fenouillèdes mountain range to the NorthWest the parcels are sandy granite and gneiss, with dark schist. Red clay limestone in the Corbières foothills, sandy clay conglomerate in the Aspres and rocky terraces along the rivers, gneiss and siliceous clay hillsides of the Albères. The Mediterranean climate present in the region is an ideal climate for the development of the vine.
In the Glass
Côtes du Roussillon produce three different kind of wine. Côtes du Roussillon Whites are delicate and elegant wines, with notes of citrus, white-fleshed fruit and flowers. Rosés are wines with fresh flavors, echoes of small, red fruit and flowers, and Reds are wines that are corpulent, fruity and spicy. The Côtes du Roussillon Les Aspres are elegant wines with wild and spicy notes that age very well.
