History
Domaine Maxime Magnon is located in the Hautes Corbières, in the Languedoc. Originally from Burgundy, he was not born with hereditary rights on a Burgundian estate but has been making his own wine in Corbières for about ten years. He bought plots of old vines on an abandoned vineyard and rents an old garage. He cultivates 9 plots on 11 hectares with steep vineyards at high altitude. He has obtained the certification in organic farming, but also incorporates biodynamic practices in the management of his vineyard. Like his friends and mentors, Didier Barral (in Faugères) and Jean Foillard (with whom he studied in Morgon), he is a naturalist at heart and seeks to create a harmonious ecosystem in his vineyard. He learnt the trade from the two referential figures that are Philippe Valette and Thierry Allemand.
He settled in Villeneuve-les-Corbières in 2002 and operates a 14 hectare estate on the magnificent terroirs of the Vallée du Paradis, in the south of the appellation, not far from Fitou.
In the towns of Villeneuve des Corbières, Durban and Cascastel, Maxime works the soils predominantly clay-limestone and shale by hand and with a chaser (a Saint Chamond), without the use of phytosanitary products and also leaves Jersey sheep and cows. graze in the vines during the winter, with the idea of promoting the microbial life of the soil, just as its illustrious neighbor Didier Barral does. This solution avoids fall plowing which causes runoff and erosion on the hillsides, and limits soil compaction.
"Everything here is dictated by the relief ... The chase rather than the tractor because the vineyard is narrow, the animals because they were there long before the invention of weedkillers. Before the war, each family in the village had its own sheep and the village shepherd grazed the river and the hills. Now, in the summer, mine is cleaning up the banks. I am not at all a bio-extremist or a “sixty-eight-too-late”… I am not on a mission, nor am I a shepherd. I only believe that good deeds have skipped a generation. that you have to approach it with simplicity, quietly. I am a winegrower and I find that all of this is good for my farm, my vines, my wine. But it's true that I don't dislike the idea of putting a bit of mixed farming back into a region that has only vines and scrubland."