Looking for a corner of the land to make the wines we love, we stumbled upon Latour de France almost by chance. Centennial Carignans, old Grenaches, elegant Syrahs on the slopes of gneiss and Latour schists seemed to invite us to create harmonious wines. In 2001, we gave the name of Ausseil (Bird in Occitan) to our adventure. Independent winegrowers, we cultivate 10 ha, a very small estate, which allows us to take very attentive care of our vines. We use organic farming methods. We favor the gentlest and most natural methods, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. This is how we produce “Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France” AOC wines, “Rivesaltes” natural sweet wines, as well as local wines (red, rosé and white) from the Côtes Catalanes. The estate's vines are located in the commune of Latour de France. On the one hand, there are old vines, in Carignan (50-80 years), Syrah (30-40), Grenache Noir (50-80 years). These old vines, on the Latour terroirs, have extremely low yields, often less than 10-20 hl/ha. On the other hand, we have planted vines of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Muscat. These young vines are now between 5 and 10 years old. CULTURE AND VINIFICATION The estate's vines are located in the commune of Latour de France. On the one hand, there are old vines, in Carignan (50-80 years), Syrah (30-40), Grenache Noir (50-80 years). These old vines, on the Latour terroirs, have extremely low yields, often less than 10-20 hl/ha. On the other hand, we have planted vines of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Muscat. These young vines are now between 5 and 10 years old. We use organic farming methods. The vines have not received chemical fertilizer since 2001, and weeding is done only by mechanical or animal tillage. We make our soils live by adding compost. We preserve our environment by regular maintenance of the surroundings, scrubland, in which we seek maximum biodiversity. Before the harvest, we carefully monitor the evolution of the maturity of the grapes, mainly by tasting the berries. Each plot is harvested at its optimum maturity. The variety of grape varieties and micro-climatic situations allows us to spread the harvest over more than a month. The harvest is done exclusively by hand. The grapes are transported immediately to the cellar in small 12 kg crates. We vinify the different grape varieties and the different plots separately, in small capacity vats (from 10 to 50 hl). We use the most natural traditional winemaking methods possible. The whites are pressed in whole bunches. For the reds, the harvest is destemmed. The fermentations take place naturally, without the addition of exogenous yeasts, and with very low doses of SO2. We carry out some pumping over or pigeage on the reds. The macerations last, depending on the grape variety and the concentration of the harvest, between 10 days and three weeks. The wines, after pressing, go through the malolactic fermentation naturally, and are aged in vats or in French wooden barrels.