Domaine Raymond Roque

Domaine Raymond Roque is one of the long established estates of  the village of Cabrerolles.  François Roque is Marc’s son, Raymond’s grandson and the 8th generation.  They have a lawyer's document dated 1876.   François originally studied and worked in aeronautics in Toulouse, but then wanted to come back to Faugères and has gradually taken over the winemaking from his father, generally learning on the job.

They have about 35 hectares of vines around the village of Cabrerolles and work in a simple cellar on the edge of the village, that has gradually grown with the generations.  Two thirds of the crop is hand harvested, which gives you so much more flexibility, especially with the difficulties of finding labour. They work by gravity, using minimum energy.  And one wall of the cellar is solid rock.  The vineyards are farmed organically.

2025 Eudemis Rosé - 8.00€. 

The label depicts the rather pretty grape vine moth, which is actually a pest in the vineyard, damaging both buds and  grapes.  They treat it with pheromones that cause sexual confusion.

As for the wine, it is a pretty pink, and not too pale.   They do not filter to remove an colour.  The grape variety blend is equal parts of Cinsault and Mourvèdre.   Quite rounded with some firm fruit and a little structure with a fresh finish.  Nicely satisfying.  

They will make their first white wine this year, in 2026, as they have bought some vineyards of  Viognier which they are converting to organic viticulture.   They  were the first organic producers in Faugères, going back to 1999.

2024 Eudemis Rouge - 8.00€

50% Cinsault with 30% Syrah and 20% Grenache.  Three weeks maceration on the skins.  They usually ferment the Grenache and Syrah together and then adjust the blend later.  There are no fixed rules.  The wine is kept in a  concrete tank.  They do not use any oak barrels at all, for any wine.    Gaetan Sala in Pézenas is their consultant oenologist.

Deep colour.  Ripe fruit, black fruit and spice.  Supple tannins. Nicely rounded and very gluggable..  The cartoon Glouglou comes to mind.

2020  La Trisaïeule, Cuvee Vieilles Vignes - 10.00€

This wine remembers Gabrielle, François’ great-great-grandmother whose husband was badly injured during the First World War and essentially she ran the vineyards in his place.  60% Syrah with 30% Grenache  and 10% Mourvèdre.  A long maceration.  Destemmed.  A remontage every day.  There is no added SO2, but they do use cultured yeast.  And a technique with the Syrah.  When the Syrah has fermented, they add more unfermented berrieds and leave the cuvée for a couple of months, so that they add more concentration to the favour. The colour is deep and the nose redolent of firm black fruit.   The palate is very rounded and dense.  I thought the alcohol was quite high but in fact it was only 13%.   The tannin balances the richness.  Long intense and characterful.  Almost like an Amarone in weight and richness.   

François filters as little as possible.  He also the wine to deposit naturally during the winter cold.  He doesn’t want to stress it, which pumping would do.

2024 Nature Faugères - 12.00€

This wine is a bit of a chameleon.  It is called Nature, not because it is a vin nature but because it was their first organic cuvée, made from organic grapes, with selected yeast and no sulphur.  They use the same selected yeast for all their wines, liking its efficiency.  A blend of Syrah and Grenache in vat.  Newly opened, it smelt a touch bretty, - Francois said animal - and not very appealing, with some CO2 giving slight prickle on the palate.  There was fruit, and light tannin as well as a streak of acidity.  Quite a fresh finish.  He sent me home with the bottle, with the instruction to leave it uncorked, in the fridge and to try it 24 hours later, which I duly did.  The CO2 had obviously gone, and the nose and palate had become more rounded and refined, and altogether much more appealing.

And asked about future projects, Francois mentioned the white wine, and he is also considering grape juice, which is more complicated to produce, but does also provide a more immediate income.  

And asked about the harvest date - at the end of July - François replied:  Who knows.  We need rain…..