Domaine La Tour Vieille Puig Ambielle Collioure 1997

Collioure is located in the Southern part of French Catalonia where the Pyranees literally fall into the sea. The vineyards are planted on steep terraces overlooking the Mediterranean, where they are constantly blown by the strong sea wind (la Tramontane). The fierce wind (which blows 120 days a year) not only insures a low natural yield, but also cleans and dries the grapes, preventing rot and mildew. As a result, vine treatments in Collioure (pesticides, sulfur) are historically some of the lowest in France. The vineyards in Collioure are so steep that no aspect of cultivation has even been mechanized, nor will it ever be. Handmade stone irrigation channels snake down the hillside separating the parcels, and at harvest the grapes are carried up and down the mountain in baskets.

In 1982, Vincent Cantie and Christine Campadien took over two small, family-owned wineries in the villages where they grew up, Collioure and Banyuls. After much expansion and renovation, today they vinify all their wines in Collioure. The vineyards are planted onto deep schist soil, which collects heat during the day and gives warmth back to the vines at night. Such conditions produce wines with generous, concentrated fruit which gain complexity with age.