The Clos Lapeyere Estate is a family-owned estate that dealt with rearing livestock, cultivating vines and farming many years ago. It was in 1985 that the head of the family, Jean-Bernard Larrieu decided to exclusively focus on cultivating vines and making classic wines that spoke volumes about the richness of the Chapelle de Rousse appellation.
Currently, the estate covers over 18 hectares of vineyards, out of which, 8 in the Chappelle de Rousse region were recently acquired. Larrieu wanted to grow his own vines in his own vineyards before releasing them into the market in a label created by him. That’s why he plants the vines carefully on the steep slopes that are located at an average altitude of about 300 to 400m above sea level.
The soil quality here is unique; it is described as the Jurancon pudding stone bedrock-rich soil, which contains a lot of pebbles. The proximity of the Atlantic Ocean helps to maintain pleasant climatic conditions in this area. All of these natural conditions helped Larrieu to focus on growing only white varietals on these vineyards. Only the white varietals of Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng, Courbu and Camaralet are cultivated on the vineyards here. Using these grapes, the Clos Lapeyre creates dry and sweet white wines.
Almost 60% of the vineyards are planted with Petit Manseng vines. Gros Manseng is the next popular varietal here. Petit Corbou, and Camaralet are new varietals that have been planted on the terraces found in this appellation. The estate also has sophisticated machinery to plant the vines, due to which, they could reintroduce 7 more small islets of vineyards located down the slopes of the hills. These islets are located in de Nays, Lapeyre, Terrengre, Poudempa, Navailles and Mantoulan regions. The soil quality and climatic conditions of these areas decide the varietal that is grown here.
http://www.jurancon-lapeyre.fr
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