Innovations
At Domaine de l'Arjolle, we have always been driven by a pioneering spirit and the desire to innovate. We enjoy imagining what might come next, what is new in winemaking and what we believe is important for the future of wine.
In the 1980s, we were one of the first estate to use stainless steel tanks, originally sourced from dairy milk containers in Brittany. Synonymous with improved hygiene and better control of oxidation, stainless steel later spread throughout the Languedoc wine growing region.
In the 1990s, after a business trip to California, Louis-Marie became fascinated by Zinfandel, California’s flagship grape variety (genetically identical to Primitivo from Puglia in Italy, despite bearing a different name). We planted our first hectare of Zinfandel, and today we are still the only producers making French-grown Zinfandel – a Zinfandel with a distinctly French expression.
In the 2000s, history repeated itself with a different remarkable grape variety: Charles came back from study trip in Chile with the idea of planting Carménère, a major grape variety in Chile (and originally from Bordeaux, where it has almost disappeared). Carménère inspired us, so we planted our first hectare, and we are still the only producers outside of Bordeaux selling French-grown Carménère – a Carménère infused with Mediterranean aromas...
The Domaine de l'Arjolle Zinfandel and Carménère wines are an invitation to discovery.
In 2019, inspired by a Dutch client and the growing popularity of alcohol-free beers, we launched our first dealcoholised wines in still and sparkling versions, which was a milestone for the estate. We chose an efficient, high-quality dealcoholisation method, namely vacuum evaporation. By placing the wine under vacuum, the boiling point of alcohol is lowered (35°C instead of 80°C), and this minimal heating preserves the vast majority of the wine’s original aromas. Thanks to this method, the alcohol content is reduced to 0.0% ABV but the wine’s intrinsic qualities are preserved, offering a genuine alcohol-free alternative.
