La Marèle

Frederic Porro, once “The Hope of French Motocross” (same generation as Bayle, several time world champion), saw his career end at the age of eighteen after an accident which left him tetraplegic…

After many years hoping to get back on the motorbike, it is in the vineyards that Frederic foumd his new passion. But it is not easy to start “from scratch” in this industry: “people tried to discourage me; never directly, always asking me: are you really sure?”. However thanks to a lot of work and dedication to his new passion, the Domaine la Marèle was born in 2000.

At Argelliers the micro-climate is very specific, not ideal to produce quality wine. The difference of temperature between night and day is very high, so the maturation of the fruits is very slow. However, this allows the grapes to slowly come to maturity, better than in any other part of region, and the result is, when the wines are run to produce low yields, an exceptional finesse and elegance as well as purity.

Fred’s philosophy is not to make wine the way everyone else does and to concentrate on a small production of very high quality. At the Domaine nothing is done in a hurry. The harvest is done manually, when Frederic thinks his vines are ready. The grapes are then taken to the cellar in small baskets; there the berries are carefully selected, then the vinfication takes place in barrel.