Arqueta

Jean-Marc Lafage is a seventh-generation winemaker – his family has been growing wine in Roussillon for over two hundred years. Even as a child, he helped in the vineyards; at twelve, he knew he wanted to become an oenologist, and later became one of the youngest in France. Together with his wife Eliane, also an oenologist, he traveled half the world – from South Africa to California to Australia – before the two returned to their Catalan home in 1995 and built their own winery around Perpignan, Canet-en-Roussillon, and Maury. Their home is the Mas Miraflors, a 15th-century Catalan country house that is now the heart of one of Roussillon's most well-known wineries.

What makes Roussillon so special is its mosaic of terroirs – and that is exactly where Lafage's greatest strength lies. His vineyards stretch from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the coast of the Mediterranean: steep terraces with old vines, schistous soils along the Agly, calcareous alluvial soils near the coast, and wind-swept plateaus in the hinterland. Native varieties such as Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Carignan grow on these very different sites – many of the vines are over fifty years old. Three examples show the range particularly impressively: "Cayrol," a powerful Carignan from the Vallée de l'Agly; "Grenache au cube," a grape variety from three regions full of sour cherry and silky tannins; and "Miraflors Rosé," the perfect freshness kick for hot days. Whether fruit monster or elegant drop – at Lafage, you will find wines with real character.