The Fronton vineyard is located 30 minutes north of Toulouse in the direction of Cahors, on the plateau between the two rivers, the Garonne and the Lot, with three distinct terroirs that come from the three ancient plateaus formed by the river Tarn:
- The so-called “boulbènes” which are alluvial soils made up of pebbles, gravel, silt and sand known as “1º terrasses”
- The “rougets”, clay-loam soils with red boulbènes rich in iron oxide called “2º terrasses”
- The “graves” which are gravel and small stones on the surface above a deep clay layer called “1º terrasses”
This small 2.4 ha vineyard comes from a donation by the local lords to the Order of Saint-Jean of Jerusalem in 1122. Legend has it that the Négrette variety, the main local variety, was brought by the Crusader knights from Cyprus, but there is no genetic evidence to confirm this. The variety is genetically part of the Côt family. Today, 96% of this variety is planted in this designation of origin. A variety sensitive to cryptogamic diseases, it benefits from the area’s sunny climate and the “Vent d’Autan” wind, which dries out the humidity, as well as the acidic soils of boulbène and gravelly sand, to produce wines with spicy, floral black fruit and great fluidity on the palate.
Situated mostly on the more qualitative 2nd and 3rd levels of the vineyard, Domaine Le Roc is a family story that took on a new lease of life with the arrival in 1981 of Jean-Luc, a bluesman dedicated to cultivation, who was joined in 1988 by his brother Frédéric, a mathematician by training who studied oenology, who is in charge of the winery, and his wife Cathy, who coordinates it all. In recent years, their nephew Grégoire and Anne, Cathy and Frédéric’s daughter, have given the estate a second boost. They cultivate 38 hectares where Négrette, the main emblematic grape variety, is accompanied by Syrah, Cabernet-Sauvignon and the resurrected Bouysset in white. Pioneers of plant cover in the late 1980s, the estate is planning to convert all the vineyards to organic farming by 2023.
The wines are aged in cement vats and barrels for between 1 year and 18 months. In all the wines, a beautiful definition of fruit and a digestive character contribute to a style of cheerful, convivial and generous wines, like the genitors that recall the original function of wine: to brighten up conversations and accompany gastronomy.
