-The Domaine d' Aresquiers was created in 2019 by Pierre Yves PETIT, permaculturist and agro-ecologist.

Despite these 8 hectares of land cultivated organically by the owners for 17 years, the soil was degraded when they took over. Passionate about agronomy, Pierre-Yves now practices permaculture to design a new way of farming by taking nature as a model for development. Composting, mulching, letting native grasses grow, letting sheep graze during the winter, planting and sowing trees and shrubs in the vineyard are some of the tools used to increase fertility and biodiversity and restore water cycles.

For Pierre Yves, switching from monoculture to agroforestry is the best way to address climate change. Regarding the vines, special attention is paid to respecting sap flow through physiological pruning.

As a nature lover, Pierre Yves practices "natural winemaking", which he believes is the best way to achieve the best "Terroir" effect in the bottle. In the 1950s, the Frontignan region was replanted with a single grape variety: "Muscat Petit Grain". Traditionally, Muscat is "vinified" with a high alcohol content (mutage) and a lot of residual sugar, but this type of wine is now shunned by customers.

So Pierre-Yves, with the help of an experienced winemaker colleague, decided to innovate by making Natural Sparkling Wine using an ancestral method consisting of filling the bottles with the must before the end of fermentation and allowing fermentation to continue in the bottle at a cool cellar temperature to obtain fine bubbles and a subtle flavor.

Pierre-Yves also adopted the old Georgian method known as "orange wine" to vinify Muscat Petit Grain, this method consists of letting the whole grapes ferment with the must as is done for red wine.

The entire vineyard is harvested by hand and the grapes are transported in 10 kg crates to respect the fruit.

The vineyard totals 6.5 ha:

• 6.5 ha productive
• 1 ha is planted with fruit trees (almond and olive trees).
• Average age of the vines 70 years Soil (drying stony clay-limestone)
• Yield 10/15 hl/ha

Physiological cup size

Density 5000 plants/ha theoretical, but many missing

Cultural method: permanent grassing or every other row

Composting and plant shredding

Treatment only sulfur ¼ of prescribed dose or Sodium bicarbonate in years of low pressure

Manual harvest/10 kg crates

Harvest at 10.5/12.5 degrees of alcoholic potential

Vinification in stainless steel vats

Fermentation in vats for 30 days at 19 degrees C

Native yeast

Foaming in champagne bottles for 6 months at 13 degrees Celsius

Hand disgorging

No added SO2 or homeopathic doses

Visit Wednesdays from 2 p.m. or by appointment at 06 51 85 77 62

Where to find the estate’s wines:

In Montpellier and surrounding areas

- The cannons

- Augusta signature wines

- Due south

_Crazy Oats Boutique

-the Boutonnet cellars

- Picamandil in Puisalicon

- Aponem in Vailhan

- The waltzers at Caux

In Sète

- The Paris Mediterranean

-Nossa

In Paris and surrounding areas

- Wildling

- The Orillon

- The wardrobe