{"id":1822,"date":"2021-04-29T15:23:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T15:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1822"},"modified":"2021-04-29T15:24:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T15:24:22","slug":"chateau-cabezac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1822","title":{"rendered":"Ch\u00e2teau Cabezac"},"content":{"rendered":"

At virtually the eastern-most extreme of the Minervois region in southwest France, there is a winery in the village of Bize-Minervois called Ch\u00e2teau Cabezac (www.chateaucabezac.com\/copie-de-home<\/a>).\u00a0 It is housed in a yellow building that combines Mediterranean architectural touches with some medieval parapets and an inviting terrace where you can sip your wine under skies that seem always to be blue.\u00a0 You may encounter some confusion because there is also a Ch\u00e2teau de<\/em> Cabezac just down the road which is an actual castle renovated today into a hotel.\u00a0 It is not associated with the winery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy of the winery.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Cabezac makes sprightly, fruit-forward wines that are respectful of the terroir.\u00a0 Most of their wines are from the traditional Rh\u00f4ne-style grapes:\u00a0 Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourv\u00e8dre, Carignan in the reds and Roussanne, Muscat Sec and Grenache Blanc in the whites.\u00a0 With thirteen wines to choose among, you can have quite a tasting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The tasting room is handsome and airy, made largely of wood.\u00a0 When we were there it was not very busy, but that was a weekday in late September.\u00a0 We understand from our server that it can be quite bustling at times, which makes their terrace even more valuable.\u00a0 We received quite an education in Cabezac\u2019s viticulture and winemaking philosophies.\u00a0 We also learned that the same proprietor has properties in Calvados and Champagne, producing the wines and spirits associated with those regions.\u00a0 Alas, they were not available for tasting.<\/p>\n

Cabezac takes its tasting program quite seriously.\u00a0 Of course, you can just drop by as we did and have a standup tasting of four wines (although we found that \u201cfour\u201d is more of a concept than a limitation).\u00a0 They also offer half-day and full-day tastings that include more extended explanations and tours.\u00a0 Cabezac also has a program for corporate clients to host tasting events there.<\/p>\n

Cabezac is a relatively young winery, established in 1997.\u00a0 The proprietor, Gontran Dondain, has invested in wine making in a modern, sanitary manner.\u00a0 We found that these practices at Cabezac are exemplary of a trend that has, happily, swept across Languedoc.\u00a0 Improved winemaking practices are being followed across the Languedoc region.\u00a0 When you visit Cabezac tasting room, you\u2019ll find a window that allows to view the production facilities. \u00a0They are gleaming and spotless, indicative of the investment and the care that has gone into this winery.\u00a0 We have observed this in many other leading wineries in the region.<\/p>\n

Where once wines were thin in the mouth and harsh in the throat, today Languedoc wineries such as Cabezac are producing wines that, in our opinion, are comparable with many of those from the Rh\u00f4ne valley (excluding the top-most in that region).\u00a0 Many of the new generation of Languedoc wineries have adopted bio<\/em> and vin methode nature<\/em><\/a> growing techniques.\u00a0 Although Cabezac is not among these, they did tell us that they are scrupulous about their growing methods.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Ch\u00e2teau Cabezac\u2019s wines cannot be found in the United States, to our knowledge.\u00a0 It does make a worthwhile stop if you are wine tasting in southwest France.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At virtually the eastern-most extreme of the Minervois region in southwest France, there is a winery in the village of Bize-Minervois called Ch\u00e2teau Cabezac (www.chateaucabezac.com\/copie-de-home).\u00a0 It is housed in a yellow building that combines Mediterranean architectural touches with some medieval parapets and an inviting terrace where you can sip your wine under skies that seem … Continue reading Ch\u00e2teau Cabezac<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1822"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1827,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions\/1827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}