Domaine Balansa - Céline Peyre & Alex Gressent

We are a family estate, working with a majority of old vines (the oldest being 118 years old), bearing the mark of 5 generations' work. We cultivate our vines with passion, using organic and biodynamic farming methods.

Most of our vines are goblet-pruned; we strive to prune carefully so as not to put too much strain on the vines in terms of energy. This is why we like the vine, once pruned, to be free of dry, dead parts and other shoots. After pruning each plot, we routinely dig up the weeds with a pickaxe, a tedious but worthwhile task. This allows us to benefit from a natural ground cover rich in species diversity and free from competing weeds such as sticky inula or fenugreek. We lightly work the soil (raking) in the autumn after the harvest and in the spring (generally in March or April, depending on the year, sometimes not at all) using a tractor for the young vines, a tracked vehicle for the older vines, and sometimes a horse for the very old vines (the centenarians; we have three) in preparation for our biodynamic preparations. We are convinced of the benefits and energy of biodynamic practices, which are constantly evolving (year after year, our practice expands with new preparations, the latest being bracken maceration, a repellent for the vine moth). (bunch). We value the ground cover and the beneficial insects it contains, which is why we mow the grass at a medium height (the protective layer shields the soil from excessive heat). Vineyard work is our priority because it reflects the character of our wines. We strive to maintain a balance around our vines and to encourage the presence of beneficial insects and the biotope, for example, by installing bat boxes. Once we have guided the fruit through to harvest, we apply the same rigorous approach in the cellar (sorting and cleanliness). We insist on bringing only healthy grapes into our cellar because we work without chemical additives, except for 1g/hl of sulfur at bottling. Our principle is not to alter the wines through filtration and fining; our method is precise racking. Nestled in a sunny terroir, our aim is to create a balance between the character of Hautes Corbières wines and their freshness and fruitiness.