Perpignan, Le 6 Avril 2005

In 1984, my father, passionate about wines, created Sarda-Malet. The enthusiasm that my parents showed was extraordinary and contagious, as they rebuilt the estate of my grandfather, who had himself been more interested in viticulture than in wine. Each year, I helped with the harvest and presented the wines to the Restaurants and wine merchants whose attitude to the appellation was not encouraging.

In 1992, my father's illness meant that I had to take over running the estate, without a clear idea of its future. But a strong desire to honour the work of two generations, a passion for the terroir and for the wine all convinced me to continue, alongside Suzy, my mother. Over the next two years, I visited all the vineyards I could from the Loire Valley to the Rhône Valley Languedoc and Roussillon, via Bordeaux and Burgundy. I received a warm welcome from growers, happy to open their doors and discuss freely their ideas and techniques. This training was instructive and fascinating, and I have happy memories of many wonderful meetings.

Back in the vineyards of the estate, I covered every single square metre, row by row, studying the quality of the soil, the rootstock, tasting the grapes, assessing the balance between leaves, wood and fruit. This led me to create two new cuvées, " Réserve and Terroir Mailloles " and to identify new parcels for our Rivesaltes, such as " La Carbasse ".

At Sarda-Malet, we have always respected traditional viticultural techniques - use of ploughs forged by local blacksmiths, constant attention to the vineyards. All this has enabled us to develop a " culture intégrée ".

My passion for the fruit was nurtured in my early years. Max, my father, was an importer of fresh fruit and vegetables by trade, and he taught me to appreciate the beauty of fruit picked at perfect ripeness and transported rapidly to market and table. Fruit only accepted when in season, of course…!

My mother and I share the work so that everything can be done to produce wine worthy of our dreams. Very low yields - between 10 and 30 hl/ha, all work entirely manual, repeated leaf-plucking as conditions each year dictate, removal of half the flowers for the Mourvèdre, weeds raked by hand, removal of protruding roots… Purchase of the best equipment available, the highest quality barrels… Last year, an experiment with 4 new 400 litre barrels of Terroir Mailloles did not please us on tasting - 16 hl representing one year's hard work with an entire hectare and 4 barrels The barrels and the wine were thrown away !

For me, each year brings renewed pleasure as I observe the evolution of the vines, and oversee all stages, from the flowering to the harvest, because the wine is made in the vineyard. The inherent quality of the grape is allowed to express itself fully in its natural terroir.

Jérôme MALET