Grande Cassagne 2015 - Grande Cassagne Rose 750 ml.
Country: France
Region: Rhone
Varietal: Grenache; Syrah
Vintage: 2015
Size: 750 ml.
Benoît Dardé and his son Paul are the fifth and sixth generations to work the land of the Costières de Nîmes. When Benoît took over the reins from his father, in 1991, the estate consisted of 12 hectares planted to grapes intended for table wine; he immediately began replanting the vineyards to the noble varieties traditional to the region, and over the years the family has slowly expanded the property to over 80 hectares. As they acquired more land, they decided to maintain a polyculture property to give the vines a richer ecosystem, and they increasingly turned to organic practices. Today the estate has several years of fully organic viticulture behind it, and the Dardés have begun the official conversion process for certification. For Benoît Dardé, “winegrowing is not a pleasure—it’s a passion.” The Dardés have been farming the Costières de Nîmes for five generations. Founder Hippolyte Dardé was born in Béziers and had moved to Paris to sell wine. Unable to stay away from the vineyards, he found land in the Costières de Nîmes and started his own domaine, Château Grande Cassagne, in 1887. Benoît continues the family tradition with the same commitment. He attended viticultural school and returned to the domaine in 1991 when his father, Jean-Claude Dardé, retired. At the time, the domaine consisted of 12 hectares planted to grapes intended for table wines. He began a wide-scale replanting primarily to the classic noble varietals of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. Over the years, they have added to the vineyard holdings and now farm 84 hectares. Just recently, Benoît’s son, Paul, joined the domaine, and the entire family works together in both the vineyards and the cellars with no set division of labor.