History & Philosophy
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.
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Hubert François - President of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi and the Salines de l'Est
Our Philosophy
Any exceptional terroir will be all the more so if the winegrower knows how to extract its potential by listening to it and understanding it, in order to extract its quintessence. We have decided to minimize yields in favor of quality. In homage to Saint-Louis, whose lands it was and in the tradition of the southern salt marshes which have always favored the exceptional and the quality, we have decided to create our wines of the sands by drawing inspiration from these models.
From the start of this wonderful adventure, we began by selecting the locations for our vines in Montago, a few kilometers from the Aigues-Mortes saltworks. The vines are cultivated on the dune sands of the coastal strip which is devoid of clay and silt, which is what makes it original and specific. The finesse of the wines produced and the pale color of the rosés are the expression of this. The Mediterranean climate is regulated by the sea, lagoons and salt marshes. The sea wind is associated with the east wind in winter and the mistral in summer; the whole and the low annual rainfall (less than 600mm) create a balance favorable to the revelation of the terroir.
We have prepared, worked the soil, chosen the best grape varieties that are suitable for this terroir in order to offer a product with a new aromatic range for sand wines. The harvest takes place plot by plot between the end of August and the beginning of September when the grapes have reached exceptional maturity.
Then the vinification is done in the most respectful conditions of the grapes in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats in our cellar located on the saline of Aigues-Mortes. The neutrality of stainless steel makes it possible to respect the natural aromas of the grapes.
Thus were born the Vins des Salins du Midi and the Saint Louis cuvées. Exceptional wines.
Patricia Ortelli : a passion for wine, excellence and quality.
Owner of Château la Calisse (Var) for almost 30 years, she has become a reference in the world of wine. Today it is on the lands of the Camargue that she offers us two exceptional cuvées : the wines of the Salins du Midi and the Saint Louis cuvée. Wines from the sands that she has developed with meticulousness and delicacy over the past three years and which are finally available for sale. Located in the heart of the salt marshes of Aigues-Mortes territory, the cellar with its Greek temple architecture houses the new production of Salins du Midi wines. Wines like you have never tasted before.