La
Bancale
"I just really like being a peasant, it's a hard job but a great job!" Bastien's manifesto for La Bancale, where pump overs are done by bucket, bottling by hand, and 70-year-old bush vines grow across five communes on decomposed granite and black schist.
Bastien and Céline have spent five years methodically assembling small plots of old vines, now farming just under 5 hectares spread across five different communes in Roussillon. Nearly all their vineyards feature native, 70-plus-year-old, head-trained bush vines (gobelet)—the only exceptions being trellised Syrah, 1980s Macabeu, and younger Grenache Gris. Working by hand (except for light tractor tilling), they've converted to organic farming (ECOCERT in process) and focus on expressing Roussillon's indigenous varieties through meticulous viticulture and non-interventionist cellar work. [^165^]
Bastien
"I like to prune the vines, to care for the vines, to plough the vines, to harvest the vines…the vines are a good place for me." Self-taught in co-fermentation, expert at bucket pump overs, hand bottler. The heart and soul of La Bancale's labor-intensive philosophy. [^165^]
Céline
Meticulous vineyard manager alongside Bastien. Together they've built La Bancale plot by plot, focusing on old vine preservation and organic conversion. Show "great promise" and "rare understanding" for such young vignerons.
The Five Communes
Decomposed granite in Trilla and Lesquerde. Calcareous black shale (Calschistes de l'Albien) in Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, Maury, and Prugnanes. Altitudes ranging from 180m to 450m.
Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet
Calcareous black shale
280m altitude
Grenache Gris, Macabeu
Trilla
Decomposed granite
320-420m
Old Carignan
Lesquerde
Granite soils
High altitude
Field blends
Maury
Black shale + clay-limestone
200-280m
Carignan Blanc, Mourvèdre
Prugnanes
Calcareous black shale
320-420m
Co-planted field blend (1937)
The jewel: an 80-year-old, 0.20-hectare vineyard in Prugnanes planted to Carignan Noir, Grenache Gris, Macabeu, Carignan Gris, and Tourbat—harvested together, co-fermented, and bottled as a single vineyard. This is the essence of La Bancale's philosophy: preserving the chaos of old vine polyculture. [^165^]
"Wine making here is about as low tech as it gets, with everything from pump overs (by bucket) to bottling done completely by hand."— Terres Blanches on La Bancale's methods
The Wines
Total SO2 typically 14-40ppm. No enological additions except minimal sulfur. Indigenous yeasts, no new oak, stainless steel or used French oak. Co-fermentation is the signature—both whites and reds blended at the press or co-fermented whole cluster. [^165^]
82-year-old vineyard (planted 1937). 50% Carignan Noir, 30% Grenache Gris, 20% white mix (Macabeu, Carignan Gris, Tourbat). Co-planted, harvested together, whole cluster co-fermented 8-20 days. Bucket pump overs, foot pigeage 1-2 days before pressing. Unfined, unfiltered. 22ppm SO2. [^165^]
80+ year old vines near Maury on black shale with clay-limestone and galets. Direct press, cold settle, fermented in stainless steel. Indigenous yeasts, no stirring. 16-32ppm SO2. "A rarity worth seeking out." [^165^]
From la Garrigue lieu-dit. 23-70 year old vines. Blended at press, cold settle, racked to stainless or fiber vats. Indigenous fermentation, no lees stirring, full malolactic. 19-24ppm SO2. The estate's standard-bearer. [^165^]
80% Carignan Noir + 20% field blend (Grenache Gris, Macabeu, Carignan Gris, Tourbat). 71 years old. Granite and black shale. Whole cluster 10 days, bucket pump overs, pressed then returned to vats. Unfined, unfiltered. 29ppm SO2. [^165^]
17-year-old vines on Calschistes de l'Albien. Whole cluster 6 days in neutral vats, indigenous yeasts. Aged 9 months neutral vats. Light filtration if necessary. 32ppm SO2. [^165^]
7-year-old vines. Direct press, fermented in used 500L Stockinger barrel. Malo completed, racked, low sulfur addition. Tirage after 4 months, 6 months sur latte, disgorged with zero dosage. Brut Nature. <10ppm SO2. [^165^]
Visit & Contact
Located in the Roussillon, farming 5 hectares across five communes (Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, Trilla, Lesquerde, Maury, Prugnanes). The domaine operates with minimal technology—bucket pump overs, hand bottling, no new oak. By appointment for tastings.
Region
Roussillon
Côtes Catalanes IGP
Southern France
Farming
ECOCERT Conversion
Organic Certified
70+ Year Old Vines
Method
Hand Pump Overs
Co-fermentation
<30ppm Sulfur