The property, situated just south of Perpignan, on the right bank of the River Tet, extends over rolling hillside country. The majority of the gentle slopes face south south-west, providing perfect climatic conditions. The vineyards possess many natural advantages : clay limestone soils, a block of Syrah and Mourvèdre on tertiary red Günz, and vines which are over 30 years old on average. Plantings extend over 46 Hectares, and the vineyard land qualifies for both the Côtes du Roussillon and Rivesaltes appellations.

Over the last 25 years, a major effort has been made to increase the proportion of Syrah and Mourvèdre in the vineyards. At the same time, Carignan and Grenache vines dating from 1940s have been retained. For the Whites, we have Roussanne and Marsanne, Malvoisie and Viognier in addition to the Grenache Blanc and Macabeo planted by my grand father over 50 years ago.

At Domaine SARDA-MALET, the terroir is respected by traditional viticultural practices : Excessive spaying is avoided, and the treatments employed are natural ; herbicides are not used. In addition to severe pruning, there is a further green harvest. From veraison until harvest, two teams pass through the vineyards removing excess leaves from the vine canopy. This way, we ensure a crop of healthy grapes, well-aired and fully ripened in the sun.

The grapes are picked only when tasting reveals a perfect balance of sugars and acids. Because of poor soils and quality rootstock, yields never exceed 35hl/ha, with just 20 hl/ha for the Syrah and the Mourvèdre of the Terrroir Mailloles , and 15hl/ha for the white Roussanne and Marsanne.

The white grapes are harvested by hand, and benefit from a period of skincontact before pressing. The Terrroir Mailloles Blanc is fermented in barrel, using free-run juice straight out of the settling tank.

The red grapes are destemmed and then vatted for between 10 days for the traditional Sarda-Malet up to 30 days for the Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache. The free-run is kept separate from the press Wine, which may or may not be blended back later, depending the vintage. The reds are drown off into barrel for ageing together with their fine lees. The fermentation lees are aged separately, and may be reincorporated according to the year.

The quality of our wine depends of the quality of the berries and we make all our labour in the vineyard, hand made, all along the year with 10 persons. With this quality and low yield we make our harvests very early, end of August or mid September. Like that we have power density and acidity to get a good balance. Soils are also a very important factor in the quality.