A HISTORICAL VINEYARD, AN AMBITIOUS DOMAINE
Vines have always been part of the Languedoc historic heritage. Traces of wild vine leaves, dated back to the Miocene period, have been found near Montpellier. Southern France wine growing history only really started during Antiquity and the Roman Empire. The wine economy rose there with the reign of Auguste, légionnaires veterans were awarded land in the Narbonnaise region, where they grew vine and olive trees.
This vineyard stretches from the shores of the Mediterranean
up to the Cévennes. The land of Domaine La Croix Belle is part of it. While
ploughing in depth a parcel of our vineyard in the early seventies, two roman marble heads
were found.
Occitania has always been an important witness of the many French History chapters. The Languedoc vineyard followed its evolution, thus going through major development periods but also times of decline and almost vanish. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and the edge of the Massif Central mountains, on a frequent travel path, this region was occupied, conquered, freed, re-conquered, by Romans, Visigoths, Francs, etc. Numerous violent conflicts took place there: the Cathars crush, the hundred years' war, religious wars, the Calvinists from the Cévennes opposing the Catholics from the occidental Languedoc area, the Revolution, etc. These successive episodes have also contributed to shape our village.
Puissalicon, characterized
by a medieval urbanism named "Circulades" with its three concentric belts, still has some
interesting remaining historical landmarks: a feudal castle from the 11th century,a gothic
church from 1337,
wall parts of ancient fortifications remaining intact, access gates like the
Porte des Pradelles, and also a Roman tower, classified vestige of the ancient
prieuré de Saint Etienne de Pezan.
Wine producers from father to son, we have associated a three-century-old family know-how, guaranteeing a continuous farming of Domaine La Croix Belle vineyard, with modern winemaking methods in the winery, which allows us to constantly improve the quality of our wine.
In 1977, already persuaded with the greatness of the
terroir of our region, Jacques and Françoise Boyer not only took over the familial
domaine , but chose to put the emphasis of their work
on the quality of their production and commit to the highest
expectations, thus becoming one of the multiple engines of the current come back of the Languedoc
wines great reputation. It has implied the re-composition of the varietals of our vines, the
continuous enhancement of our growing know-how we inherited from our past generations, and a
serious reduction of the crop yield, in order to pick concentrated and healthy grapes for wines
of character. In parallel, the winery has progressively been transformed, adapted, and equipped,
to perform and develop state of the art winemaking methods, and to allow us to express at its best
all the potential of our terroir and our passion of wine producers.
The result is a wine of true originality and character that will astonish you; cuvées labels that are landmarks of our history and which will tease your curiosity; millesimes which tie together our efforts, our passion, and natural seasons. Domaine La Croix Belle benefits from all the talents of its team to share with you the pleasure to taste a great wine.
Let us now discover our terroir.