Source: Paul M. Young Fine Wines
DOMAINE DE MENARD
Southewest France
In the Heart of AOC Bas Armagnac, the Domaine de Menard is situated on the famous Via Podensis, a road taken for centuries by pilgrims who are going to Saint Jacques de Compostelle.
The vineyard is established on premium and ancestral terroirs. Indeed, plots are situtated on a geologic marine site. You can find many fossils in vine rows. On the clay and limey soil, less deep and stony, we produce white and dry wines with Colombard, Ugni Blanc and Sauvignon. On sandy and deep soil, Petit and Gros Manseng bunches are harvested lately, so as to produce our sweet wines with an exceptional finesse.
The story of the estate dates back to 1920, when Jean Francois Morel, a Swiss vintner, settled in Gascony so as to cultivate wine. At the beginning of the vineyard was about 10 hectares, Denise, his daughter and her husband Jean Jagerlhener settled in the estate in 1960, and they built the cellar and expanded the vineyard. Their son, Philip, joins the team and devotes his time to managing the vineyard.
Now run by their daughter, Elizabeth and her husband, Henry, the estate is about 120 hectares. The domaine first bottled its wine under their own name in 2003.