"The Château de Lascaux has its origins in the family. From some 20 hectares when I took over in 1984, it has grown to its present size of almost 85 hectares of vines surrounded by 300 hectares of garrigue scrub.
The vineyard is totally integrated into a natural environment of incredibly rich biodiversity, providing it with protection and diversity of expression. All of this contributes to the quality and originality for which Château de Lascaux has always been celebrated and which have made it an unavoidable reference point of Pic Saint Loup and Languedoc.
The site, wild and sometimes austere, dazzles us and fills us with a great serenity, thanks to the beauty of a nature soaked in mystery.
Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, with a small quantity of Cinsault, Mediterranean varieties par excellence, are grown under strict conditions in our different zones. Part of their job is to reveal the scents, tastes and freshness on which the reputation of Château de Lascaux wines is based.
Our vocation as winemakers is guided by experience. Working the vine excites us and is the very essence of our expertise: turning the soil, short pruning and careful tying are the necessary and sufficient treatments. Organic growing methods simply formalised our practices and ambitions.
After all this work, making a wine is a matter of care, rigorousness and intuition. Tasting the grape and deciding the date of harvesting are skills that are difficult to share. Placing fruit only in our tanks, with no leaves or stalks, is a strict requirement. This means that sorting is required. There must be total control over temperature, daily monitoring, careful extraction and lengthy maceration. Great care is taken with bringing up the wine (élevage), which always takes at least a year in tanks or Bordeaux barrels, in an ancient cellar where the temperature and humidity are strictly monitored.
After the wine is bottled on our premises, maturation continues for a few weeks in our cellars, or even several years for our most prestigious wines.
Bottles are individually labelled and inspected with great care immediately before shipment.
Searching for the reasons for the finesse and freshness that the terroir has unfailingly given us, the humility imposed upon us by nature, the fascination and expectation of the next crop, the need for work to always be done correctly, being constantly aware of the imperceptible – these are the things which I share with my team."
Jean Benoit Cavalier
