At Château de Rouffiac, we strive to age our Cahors wines in various ways to offer you diverse flavour profiles. In addition to aging in oak barrels and neutral concrete tanks, we explore fruit-friendly aging methods that allow for controlled oxygen exposure. One compelling reason to adopt terracotta containers.
Terracotta vessels have always been used in winemaking, dating back to the earliest known grape fermentation traces in Georgia 8,000 years ago. Terracotta amphorae were famously used in Antiquity for the transport and storage of wine. The city of Cahors (Divona Cadurcorum) and our village of Duravel (referred to as Diolindum) were indeed Gallo-Roman cities.
For our inaugural 2022 vintage, we acquired small 160-liter jars made of black clay from Limoges. After a year of aging in these jars, and now that it’s time to bottle this wine (our En Jarre 2022 cuvée), they are hosting a single-plot cuvée from the 2023 harvest.
Our jars made of black clay from Limoges
To enhance our aging capabilities, we recently received new 600-liter amphorae crafted in Tuscany by master potter Massimo Carbone, using AOP Terracotta Impruneta clay. These magnificent vessels now safeguard what will become our En Jarre 2023 cuvée!
Our amphorae crafted in Tuscany
The Château de Rouffiac team.