Château Maucoil

Château Maucoil - 400 years of history in winegrowing in France

Château Maucoil and its history have been shaped by its various inhabitants over the centuries. After the Roman legions first settled here, attracted by the spring that rises here, a castle was built. Near the Via Agrippa, several wine-growing families then succeeded each other on the 17th century castle. The vineyard at Château Maucoil dates back to this period and some plots planted in 1895 still exist. In the 20th century, the Goguet de la Salmonière and Quiot families contributed greatly to the construction and prosperity of Château Maucoil.
The Arnaud family, already owners in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, decided to buy the château in 1995. Since taking over Château Maucoil, the winemaking family has put energy, love and passion into the château. The youngest generation then took up the torch in 2009 with a strong desire to preserve the domaine and run it with the utmost respect for the environment. In 2013, Bénédicte and Charles Bonnet joined Frédéric and Benoît Lavau in the same house, which they run together.

Château Maucoil Sustainability

They farm their vines just as their ancestors did. Ploughing, heaping, peeling and scribbling form the cycle of soil cultivation. You use natural fertilizers such as sheep or horse manure, as well as algae-based fertilizers. This earned you the organic farming label in 2014.

Château Maucoil site and vines

The estate consists of 25 hectares of AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape and 18 hectares of AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages. The domain straddles the communes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Orange and Sorgues in Vaucluse. The vines thrive on three different terroirs. The first is made up of with large proportions of red clay in the soil. To feed on water, the vines there can root up to three meters deep. The second, to the west, consists of hard limestone rocks with clayey subsoil and was formed from spongy sandstones. The third, in the east, is on soils of sandy slopes formed by the retreat of the Rhône River and created between wooded areas and stony plateaus. When developing the wines, you play with this diversity by combining the different grape varieties and the different terroirs or, on the contrary, by selecting only one for a particular cuvée.

They are one of the rare domains of Châteauneuf-du-Pape that has kept the 13 grape varieties. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation is known worldwide for its prestigious wines and its grape varieties are:

• Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre,
• Picpoul, Roussanne,
• Clairette, Bourboulenc,
• Muscardin, Picardan, Counoise,
• Cinsault, Terret Noir and Vaccarèse.