Roussillon & Maury

Roussillon is the far west of the Languedoc region, nestled up against the Pyrennees Mountains and the Spanish border. It’s part part of the larger region of Northern Catalonia (ie French Catalonia- the part of the historical province across the border from modern Spanish Catalonia).

The name Roussillon originates from Ruscino (Rosceliona, Castel Rossello), a small fortified place near modern-day Perpignan where Gaulish chieftains met to consider Hannibal's request for a conference during the Punic Wars. The Romans won the day, and the region formed part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis from 121 BC to AD 462, when it was ceded with the rest of Septimania to the Visigothic king Theodoric II, ruler of Hispania (Spain & Portugal.

In 719, the Saracens crossed the Pyrenees and established political control of Septimania until their defeat in 759 by the Carolingian king Pepin the Short, who went on to occupy Roussillon after conquering Narbonne. Upon the invasion of Hispania in 778, Pepin’s son Charles (Charlemagne) founded the Marca Hispanica (the Spanish March, today’s Catalonia), which over the next century evolved into the hereditary County of Roussillon.

At the beginning of the 12th century, the region was absorbed as a sub-fiefdom of the Counts of Barcleona, and then by 1172, it became into the posession of hte Kings of Aragon.

The next couple of centuries saw control of the region alternately by the kings of Aragon and the Kingdom of France, as well as the Kingdom of Navarre, and that of Majorca. Finally in 1659 the Treaty of the Pyrennees divided Catalonia along more or less modern lines, creating the French province of Roussillon, which, after the French Revolution, was renamed as the Departement of the Peyrennes-Orientales. The name Roussillon of course survives in the modern region of Languedoc-Roussillon.

Climate & terroir

jean louis vera

Maury is a tiny postage-stamp of an appellation on the northern border of Roussillon, of 4200 acres, just to the south of Corbieres.

Jean-Louis Vera, proprietor of Domaine de la Serre, is a visionary who creates unique wines in this exceptional terroir. His 78 acres are located on small plots high in the mountains. The soils are variable, but made of schist, granite, gneiss and limestone-clay. Yields are quite low and concentrations are high.

Although located in the Maury AOC, his wines are made as dry table wines, not the vins doux naturels that the AOC has traditionally requires (and in spite of the fact that a Maury Sec AOC was created in 2011), so they’re classified as Cotes Catalanes, a broader designation that includes the terroirs of Maury.

Biodiversity is encouraged with hedges planted around parcels and green cover between the vines, and all work is done by hand and certified EU Organic.

the wine

We carry a single wine from the estate- his Cotes Catalanes IGT “Les Cailloux.” Ripe and succulent, this 100% Grenache cuvee is filled with a combination of morello cherry, notes of earth and mineral, and notes of the wild garrigue interspersed with the small vineyard plots.

A classic of the region, powerful and complex. Pair with grilled sausage, a charcuterie board, or roast duck.