| Cyriaque Rozier, the highly acclaimed winemaker and vineyard manager at Château La Roque, makes
his own wine under the label Château Fontanès in Pic St-Loup in the Languedoc. A charming man
with a strong sense of vocation and relentless drive, Cyriaque often works sixteen-hour days
between the two domaines. He first started his domaine in 2003, and undertook the ultimate labor
of love in the Languedoc—planting a vineyard. For many years, this plot of land was best known for
olive trees, until the great frost of 1956 decimated groves by the hundreds. The land is hard as a
rock, quite literally, and composed primarily of limestone and clay. To plant a vineyard here is a
game of patience and incredibly hard work. Over the last few years, Cyriaque has been slowly
building stone terraces to better protect this challenging terrain from erosion. In addition, he has
taken to farming biodynamically, a noble task that forgoes the shortcuts that most vignerons have at
their disposal today in favor of producing organic grapes in a rich, healthy soil. In total, he works 4.5
hectares, which are planted with forty-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, as well as Syrah,
Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault. He cannot help but love his plantings, as the original
cuttings for his vines were all selected from his favorite domaines in Côte-Rôtie, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and Bandol. |