Winemakers Union Cru La livinière

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The Cru La Livinière

Singular and multifaceted, the first cru to be recognized in the Languedoc in 1999, La Livinière is an appellation of powerful and elegant red wines. It is situated in the heart of the Minervois, between Toulouse and Montpellier.

THE BELLTOWER OF LA LIVINIERE,
LIKE A LIGHTHOUSE AT THE TIP OF THE HEADLAND

The winemakers call it ‘the beacon of the cru’. It was chosen for its symbolism. It is a strong image. With its delicate twin bays and flat stone roof, the belltower of the La Livinière church stands out in silhouette above the village and the vast terrace of the Minervois, which is spread out below. Like a lighthouse at the tip of the headland.

It is not just an illusion. Not that the Mediterranean, less than 50km away as the crow flies, can be glimpsed on the horizon. But 50 million years ago, when the Atlantic Ocean opened the breach of the Gulf of Gascony, a warm shallow sea seeped in to the north of the Pyrenees, until it came to lap at the most southerly slopes of the Massif Central. And La Livinière marks the most southerly point of this most ancient coastline.

the-terroir

The Terroir

SEA LINGERED THERE A FEW MILLION YEARS.

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T hough but a speck on the scale of the planet’s history of course, it was long enough to form the base of the giant limestone slab of the Causse of Minerve, and to trace the key features of the relief, and forge the underlying elements of the mineral melting-pot that makes up the terroir of La Livinière. A mixture of limestone, pebbles, sand and clay where alluvial deposit and erosion have patiently carried out their work: hollowing out gorges in the limestone plateau of the causse, a little lower down shaping the succession of sandstone hills dotted with woods, and lastly carpeting the terraces with pebbles. An elaborate preparation of the ground for viticulture, possible up to 400m above sea level.

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The Vineyards

WITH 350 HECTARES OF VINES SCATTERED IN THE GARRIGUE, THE CRU SEEMS TO BE ETCHED INTO THE LIMESTONE PLATEAU OF THE CAUSSE

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La Livinière didn’t fall from the sky. Lavineira, the earliest written mention of it in 1069, means ‘a place planted with vines’.

This is proof that the first plantations carried out by the Roman colonizers had a ripple effect. And that men have not stopped since etching their presence onto the landscape. The little fields of vines bear witness to this, as well as the innumerable drystone walls running the length and breadth of the countryside.

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It was a laborious job of grazing and clearing to defeat the garrigue and the woods, and end up with 350 hectares dedicated to the production of the precious cru La Livinière – scattered over 2700 hectares of the official terrain of the appellation, which extends into the tortuous territory of six village districts: La Livinière, Siran, Cesseras, Félines-Minervois, Azille and Azillanet.

The pioneering visionaries of the syndicate of the cru, Maurice Piccinini and Roger Piquet quickly brought to light the qualities of this inland archipelago at the heart of the Minervois.

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The Winemakers

A CRU WOULDN’T BE A CRU WITHOUT EACH WINEMAKER’S INDIVIDUAL STAMP.

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Singular of course, it is nonetheless also multifaceted. Each winemaker’s individual touch complements the influence of the variety of stone, the position of the vineyards on the slopes, and the degree of southern exposure. Each winemaker brings distinctive approaches to each stage of the elaboration of each wine. These are a question of style and orient the profile of the wine. Everything is in order and happily so.

And always, there is respect for the other. The representatives of the forty winemakers that are included in the cru La Livinière today meet regularly to taste their respective wines and elect those ones that seem to them, at the time, to be the most emblematic of the cru. These bottles form what they call ‘the Collection’, with a nod to stylists of a different kind.

Press kit

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