Domaine de La Baume

Quality and excellence

The estate is located in the Servian district near Béziers and the mediaeval town of Pézenas.

The name of our estate has several meanings in Occitan: In Langue d'Oc, la Baume means a "little hump of land", a hill that is not unlike the undulating relief of the estate's landscape. In Provencal Occitan, la Baume means a grotto or a troglodyte dwelling. This definition is used nowadays in geology. The “balme or Baume” denotes a rock shelter located at varying heights above an escarpment.

The original meaning seems to be a combination of these two meanings: La Baume means a hiding place, a shelter. Itinerant bronze and glass sellers in the Middle Ages who were unable to transport their overly heavy articles from region to region used to hide their merchandise in mounds of earth; places that they kept secret, also known as Baumes. This is what we call our hidden Languedoc treasure.

The selection of the plots (and its very French concept of terroir) is only the prelude to the wine-making techniques directly inspired by the New World.

La Baume was, for example, one of the first to pick the grapes entirely at night and to adopt and master micro-oxygenation and inerting to preserve the freshness and fruitiness for several years. Our oenologists have a unique approach to vine-growing, carefully managing the size and leaf surface area to maximise the beneficial effects of the Languedoc sun. The wine-making process only aims to reveal the aromas of the grapes with a minimum of intervention. Far from being given their famous worldwide taste, the wines have the distinctive taste of the terroir that we handle with care.

Our team of Oenologists from left to right: Fabien Gross, Solange Dremière, Bruno Kessler (Director of the Group’s Oenologists) and Frédéric Glangetas

Gourmet partners of choice

The soils are clayey, sandy and loamy, on a plain or a hillside. They have given birth to a broad range of wines. From the most congenial to the most elitist, such as Terre de la Baume.

Pure pleasure wines, they offer a vast aromatic palette and are gourmet partners of choice.
A wine-producing project in Languedoc, la Baume perpetuates a tradition of wine-making innovation and excellence.

Our international team of Oenologists fully embodies these values and our only standard is excellence. Furthermore, having received more than 50 medals in 5 years, the La Baume wines are regularly mentioned in the French and international press.

History

Bordered by the Bassan Roman road and a former priory, the estate is established on land on which numerous Roman remains have been found (amphorae, jewellery, tools) that bear witness to this region’s flourishing trade.

The operations count 60 hectares, including 45 hectares of vines. In addition to the planted section, there are fields and woods (pine and eucalyptus forest). The estate was established two centuries ago by the Prat family. This family is famous in the region for having created the Marseillan vermouth “Noilly Prat”. A wrought iron J and P for Joseph Prat adorn the entrance to the house and the imposing courtyard portal. The owners have built a house full of character, a real Languedoc folly.

La Baume really came to life again in 1990, the date on which it was bought out by the Australians from Thomas Hardy and Sons and then Constellation.

In 2003, we gave the estate a dynamic new commercial lease of life. In 10 years, this property has been completely transformed. The vineyard has been entirely replanted and increased to 45 hectares with high trellises, total cover planting and automatic fertilisation. It is planted with Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Viognier and Sauvignon.

A grape-gathering receiving platform has been created and equipped with a receiving bin of Australian design and pneumatic wine presses. A stainless steel temperature-regulated 27-000 hl fermenting room replaced the cement fermenting room.

We have built an air-conditioned cellar with a capacity of 500 barriques, in a former shed that we wanted to conserve.

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