Le Domaine La Louvière
Le Domaine La Louvière is situated in the small village of Malviès in the heart of the exclusive AOP Malepère district, between Limoux and Carcassonne, in the south of France.
Within touching distance of both the Mediterranean coastline and the Pyrenees mountain range, our special microclimate and a stoney terrain helps us produce a range of expressive wines. Our international team's expertise and our use of strict organic practices extracts the best out of these specific natural conditions to ensure the wines' quality and distinctive characters.
The soil
The composition of the soil here is a special feature of the terroir. Its mixture of clay, sandstone and limestone, as well as large boulders, is responsible for the less than flattering name of Malepère, which can be literally translated as ‘bad stone’.
We treat this stony soil, however, as our ally in helping us create our top quality wines. This is because its make-up ensures a special mineralisation of the vines, whilst the stones absorb and store the heat from the searing Languedoc sunshine. This, in turn, protects the vines on cool nights.
The hard-to-work land offers another advantage: at Domaine La Louvière we still do real manual work.
Expertise
The quality of le Domaine La Louvière's wines is not completely determined by the environment, but also by the know-how of our team.
We extract the full potential of our grapes by using organic techniques that are kind to the environment and harvest no more than 50 hectolitres per hectare. Our team handle the vines with utmost care, giving full consideration to the climatic and natural conditions of the terroir.
Our experienced cellar master then is able to press the grapes and create a wine with its own distinct character. For example, fruity white wines with residual acid or full-bodied red wines that have ripened in oak barrels and have a long-term cellar potential of four to ten years.
Combining traditional methods with the latest technology
Although much of our work, including the harvesting, is done by hand, that is not to say we don't use the latest technology if it can help us in our quest for optimum quality, without contravening our organic values.
Our vines are in such close proximity to the winery that they can be transferred quickly without the risk of overheating or being spolit.
The grapes are always handled with the utmost precaution and worked with by gravity to minimise the risk of damage. Our pneumatic press then exerts only a small and regular pressure to ensure the juice is of optimum quality.
Le Domaine La Louvière's cellars, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, use both fine quality French oak barrels (from the forest of Allier) and stainless steel vats to mature its wines. The steel tanks are temperature-controlled and conform to the strictest hygienic standards to eliminate contamination risks.
We are proud to adhere to strict organic practices to ensure the quality of our wines and the protection of the environment.
Our IPG Pays d'Oc wines are busting with sunshine and rival AOP Malepère wines for both quality and personality.
The quality of our elegant AOP Malepère wines is down to a special microclimate and soil - full of bad stones (or mal pierres).
Klaus Grohe and his four sons have quite literally transformed the Domaine La Louvière since acquiring it in 1992.
Led by our General Manager Jem Harris, our international team is dedicated to quality ... and your pleasure.
