Introduction by winegrower Claude Vialade :
Cicéron is a wine chateau. It is also a family home.
We live by the rhythm of the seasons and vineyard tasks.
I have established a renowned and innovative organic vineyard here to respond to a changing climate. The wines are made in the estate’s cellars. We sell most of our wines in export markets, so over the years I have set aside one of its beautiful houses as accommodation for our foreign clients when they travel to buy our wines.
Another building has been converted into a large reception area and cellar door facilities for welcoming school groups or winegrowers from other regions keen to find out more about this innovative vineyard designed to withstand drought conditions.
So it was that alongside our winegrowing business, tourism activities have developed
Château Cicéron is located South-east of Carcassone. The Château faces south overlooking the Orbieu River and is protected to the north by the Montagne d'Alaric. The vineyard benefits from the influence of the Mediterranean, which, with a little humidity, ensures a freshness and elegant structure to the wines of this terroir.
The current buildings are built on the site of an ancient Roman villa (70 BC), hence the Latin name. The estate became a dependency of the Benedictine Abbey of Lagrasse during the expansion of Catholicism (8th to 13th centuries) and was privatized during the French Revolution.
In 1985, the owner Claude Vialade, who was a visionary at the time and long before organic farming was prevalent began the conversion to organic farming. Château Cicéron, alongside the Ribaute co-operative, became the first 100% organic co-operative winery in Europe.
Owned and operated by the Vialade family, the Château Cicéron vineyard is small being only 10 hectares in area. The vines are a minimum 25 to 35 years old. The grapes are harvested by hand and the wine carefully made on-site by Bertrand Fillet and Mélanie Husset (who incidentally has also made wine in New Zealand).