Domaine de La Citadelle

Terroir and excellence at Domaine de la Citadelle

At the foot of the village, on the northern slopes of the Luberon massif, lies a family estate where meticulous organic vineyard management is combined with respectful vinification and demanding ageing. This gives the wines a unique expression of their terroir. The estate has been committed to organic farming since 2016 and is HVE (High Environmental Value) certified.

The estate supports a holistic approach to vineyard management, creating a virtuous circle between people, land and wine. At the centre of this relationship between Earth, Plant and Cosmos is man. Working the soil and energising the plants have a single objective: to achieve excellence.

For some years now, the estate has been working hard to understand and analyse the vineyard and its interactions with its environment. Under the constant influence of the Mistral wind, the Domaine de la Citadelle, which is resolutely Rhône-based, also benefits from the cool nights brought by the benevolent presence of the Luberon, which makes it one of the latest terroirs in the Rhône Valley.

Vines and terroir

Today, the vineyard covers 40 hectares of vines, aged between 15 and 75 years, mainly located in the commune of Ménerbes, on the northern slopes of the Luberon. Domaine de la Citadelle covers eleven lieux-dits, encompassing four terroirs and climates, and is divided into 74 parcels. These parcels, with their late ripening characteristics and altitudes of up to 300 metres, offer a mosaic of sandy marl, gravelly and silty Miocene sand, and calcareous sandstone molasse.

Each parcel requires precise, meticulous work to bring out the best expression of the terroir and the grape variety.

Wine-making

With a constant eye on quality, the vines are trellised and their yield is limited by various practices, ranging from short pruning to severe disbudding, and sometimes even green harvesting in certain years.

The cellar, set into the hillside, is gravity-fed, reducing the need for pumps and making the wine more gentle. The stainless steel vats, equipped with hydraulic presses, are thermo-regulated to ensure gentle extraction of tannins, colour and aromas. The grapes are pressed using a pneumatic membrane press.

Temperature and humidity control in the storage and ageing cellars ensures optimum conservation of the wines. With a view to listening to and paying close attention to the vines, each terroir and grape variety is vinified separately.

Five ranges of wines are produced by the estate, the fruit of several years' work and selection, highlighting the various terroirs and the team's expertise.

Cellar and shop sales

Direct sales are available for all wines. If you are visiting the Musée du Tire-Bouchon or the Botanical Garden, you can also drop into the shop. You'll find delicatessen items, tableware, cutlery and corkscrews, as well as botanical books, to name but a few.

Take advantage of your visit to the Domaine to discover :

• Our wine-making cellar (working by gravity) and our ageing cellar (French oak barrels and foudres) as well as a tasting of our different cuvées.
• The Corkscrew Museum, with its 1,200 items dating from the 17th century to the present day; a unique collection ranging from the 1st hand-forged steel corkscrew to a solid gold, ivory or silver objet d'art.
• The Botanical Garden: on 5 18th-century terraces, come and admire a wide variety of aromatic, medicinal, wild edible, magical and carnivorous plants (as well as a truffle plantation).