Our History
When the Compagnie des Salins du Midi was bought by my family in 2014, I was seduced and impressed by the infinite immensity of the landscapes it hides. Ponds as far as the eye can see, with changing colors, an exceptional bio diversity, endless dunes, the sea.
But the Company also revealed other secrets to me: its history. These salt marshes delivered salt throughout the Roman Empire (the term salary comes from the fact that the pay of Roman soldiers was partially paid in salt), and they belonged to Saint Louis who made it his home port to go on crusades. The city of Aigues Mortes, and its thousand-year-old ramparts, runs along the pond where the salt is formed, in an extraordinary unity of colors.
Then I was told the adventure in which the Salins du Midi embarked more than 100 years ago: The wine of the sands, with the advent of the famous rosé. It seemed natural to me for the Company to repeat this adventure, since we still had this knowledge.
And for that I was able to count on my sister, Particia Ortelli, also a wine pioneer since she was one of the first operators to produce organic wine in Provence in the Calisse estate, which she also owns. revived more than thirty years ago.
With her, we spent long hours traversing the immense dunes of the salt marshes to choose the best terroir. We experimented with several grape varieties to see how they adapted to these sands and the possibilities they offered. And it was in Montago, very close to the ramparts of Saint Louis, on his lands, that our choice was made. It is there that 6 years ago, we planted our first grape varieties to produce, with free footing and on wooden stakes. It is Patricia's experience that allowed me to make these important choices to have the best cuvée.
The six years that have served these grape varieties to draw from the sand the minerals that will develop the best aromas, we have also devoted them to building the shelter which, since this year, hides within it of cut stone ( the same as those used by Saint Louis), the carefully elaborated cuvées. It is under the vaults of this cellar that the aromas that I now invite you to taste develop.
Hubert François - President of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi and the Salines de l'Est
