IGP Coteaux d'Ensérune
Ensérune… small but mighty!
Vineyards nestled at the foot of the hill…
As early as the 1980s, local winegrowers decided to clearly differentiate their wines by securing classification as what was then Vin de Pays, ensuring they would be clearly identified. That backstory continues to this day under the IGP Coteaux d’Ensérune banner..
Foundation
August 1
2009
Territory
15
villages
production
13 190 hL
producers
21 independent wineries,
2 co-operatives and
14 wine merchants.
Colours
red
24%
rosé
61%
white
15%
Main grape varieties
authorized for the reds
Grenache
Lledoner pelut
Carignan
Syrah
Mourvedre
Main grape varieties
authorized for the rosés
Grenache
Lledoner pelut
Carignan
Syrah
Mourvedre
Main grape varieties
authorized for the whites
Carignan Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc
Viognier
Bourboulenc
Macabeu
terroir
Virtually all of the IGP Coteaux d’Ensérune area is ‘clad’ with limestone. It comes either alone or mixed with clay, shows multiple nuances of texture and depth depending on the individual vineyard blocks and boasts that valuable quality of being suited to growing many different grape varieties, both red and white. Predictably, the climate is Mediterranean with its dry, hot summers, mild winters and relatively wet springs and autumns.
There is a variety of wine styles – on limestone soils, minerality lends the wines abundantly clean flavours and the much talked-about impression of ‘sucking a stone’. When mixed with clay, the wines have broader shoulders and more ample palates. Grape varieties obviously also play their part, instilling different characters that can range from the gracious rustic feel of Lledoner Pelut to the profound, precise Mourvèdre which imparts delicious peppery notes.
History
Chosen by the winegrowers themselves at the start of the 1980s to identify their wines, the IGP symbol is obviously the famous hill of Ensérune. At the top of the hill, which was once the site of a Roman oppidum, there are still archaeological remains. And at its foot is the famous waterway listed as Unesco World Heritage – the Canal du Midi.